


Big Hero 8 Book 1

by RustyJeans



Series: Big Hero 8 [1]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Big Hero 6: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Male-Female Friendship, Other, Platonic Relationships, Protective Siblings, Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:02:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 48,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27726547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RustyJeans/pseuds/RustyJeans
Summary: Big Hero 8 tells the story of Rena Hamada and her two brothers - older brother Tadashi and younger brother Hiro. Essentially the plot of Big Hero 6 but Tadashi lives!
Series: Big Hero 8 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2028097
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Rena Hamada did not expect to be spending her Friday night in a prison cell. Especially not next to her arguably more sensible brother Tadashi. Oh well. Shit happens. She sighed, running fingers through her messy hair.

'What are we gonna do with him?!' She muttered angrily, glancing up to where her younger brother Hiro sat, alone in another cell. Tadashi grimaced slightly from beside her.

'I don't know Squish.'

'Wow the great Tadashi Hamada stumped! I never thought I'd live to see the day! Also-' she paused, before elbowing him hard in the ribs 'quit calling me Squish! I'm not 6 anymore.'

'Too right you're not.' Tadashi muttered, rubbing his side, 'that hurt you know!'

'I'm sure you'll survive, you big baby.'

The car ride home was awkward. Aunt Cass didn't stop to breath, ranting about responsibility and other boring stuff until her face went an alarming red colour. Hiro stayed silent. He had enough common sense to know that it was not wise to interrupt her with a snarky remark for fear of getting beheaded. When they pulled up to the café, he jumped out and raced up the stairs as fast as he humanly could, wanting desperately to escape from the tension that radiated from the front room where the rest of his small family stood. Aunt Cass sank down onto a table near the counter, doughnut in hand. Rena and Tadashi stood watching anxiously.

'Where the hell did I go wrong with him? He's such a sweet kid, I'd never imagine him going to that horrible place!' She spoke through a mouth of doughnut, and whilst the two siblings could not entirely understand what she meant, they got the gist.

'Don't worry Aunt Cass, I'll talk to him. He's not gonna get hurt, and he certainly isn't gonna turn out a hardened criminal anytime soon.' Tadashi said quietly, a weak smile on his face.

'You're a good kid Tadashi. Thank you.' Mumbled Cass sleepily. They took this a cue to head upstairs.

Once upstairs, Tadashi sank onto the sofa, head in his hands. Rena sat down beside him, slinging an arm casually around his shoulders.

'Tadashi, you worry too much. The kid's gonna be fine.'

'You don't know that.' His voice was muffled behind his hands, she was pretty sure he was hiding a few tears. She sighed gently, Tadashi's greatest weakness. You could argue that it was his only weakness. She knew that his over protectiveness resulted in plenty of sleepless nights and tears shed.

'Hey T, why don't you talk to him about collage again? I saw him looking at the homepage online the other night, I know he's interested. He just needs a nudge in the right direction.'

'I- really?!' He lifted his face from his hands, positively glowing despite the tell-tale signs of tears around his brown eyes. She nodded at him, and he stood up. 'Let's go then. Convince him.'

'I- what? Now?! T, it's getting late...'

Too late, he'd already ran towards the door, and she could hear him thumping up the stairs before she even stood up to stop him.

'Unbelievable.' She thought, stretching out on the sofa, making good use of the rare opportunity of the whole sofa to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tadashi and Rena take Hiro on a tour of SFIT.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! This story is also published on fanfiction.net and I'm working on posting the rest onto here. I really hope you enjoy this - I've worked so hard on it over quite a long time and I really do hold these characters close to my heart. I'm also going to add some TWs here for the rest of the story. Don't worry because I will add them onto the beginning of relevant chapters when necessary.  
> TWs - fire, hospitals, panic attacks, bad mental health in general, violence, blood

'Oi! Where are you going?' Rena yelled at her brothers as they bounded down the stairs together. Hiro grinned at her 'Tadashi's taking me out to a bit fight across town!'

She stared at Tadashi incredulously. 'I- what? Dash? Are you really?' He nodded silently, a grin on his face so wide it matched the one on his brothers. Rena was so confused. She didn't like it, she wasn't used to being confused, to have no idea what was happening.

'Uh, you sure Dash?' She whispered to him urgently as Hiro raced out of the room ahead of them, 'I thought you wanted him to stop? What did he say to you?' She knew all too well the effects of Hiro's puppy dog eyes, especially on her soft big brother.

'Trust me, alright? Hamada rule 23.' She knew then that whatever he was planning, he wasn't taking Hiro anywhere near any botfighting, and she doubted sincerely that he ever would. Hamada rule 23. Meaning simply, trust me. I know what I'm doing. I know I'm right. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering how that rule in question had come about. It was a year since the fatal car accident that had claimed their parent's lives and left them in the care of their Aunt Cass. She rememberd being a mere 7 years old, Tadashi slightly older. They stood in front of the big red monster that they called a car. 7 year old Rena was shaking like a leaf, remembering all too vividly the screeching sound of the impact, her parent's screams, Hiro's crying and the shards of glass that we're stuck in her hands and legs and neck and face. She heard her own screaming in her ears, felt the panic rise in her chest as it had on that fatal day. She squeezed her eyes shut, tell-tale tears sliding down her cheeks. Even then, a whole 10 years ago, Tadashi was still the gentle, nurturing soul that he was. He wrapped his arms around her, whispering in her ear that it was okay, that bad things were not going to happen again. Even at the tender age of 9, he was fiercely protective, and exceptional at wiping away tears and helping her to snap back to the present. They made it a rule, there and then. Hamada rule 23 - trust me, because I know I'm right. She opened her eyes, snapped rapidly back to the present. She looked up at her elder brother. Sure, he was older and slightly more tired looking, but he was the warm prescence that she needed, relied upon from the moment she was old enough to understand who he was and the words that he spoke to tenderly.

She nodded meekly. 'Well, whatever you're doing, you're not doing it without me!'

'What are we doing at your nerd school? Bot fighting is that way!' Exclaimed Hiro loudly as Tadashi pulled into the car park for SFIT.

'Excuse me, I don't think you have the qualifications to call anyone a nerd, Mr I graduated high school at the age of 14.' Rena retorted. Hiro scowled, pulling a face at her as they jumped out the car. She grinned at him. 'I win that one then.' He ignored her, jogging to catch up with Tadashi.

'What are we doing here, bot fighting is that way!' He whined childishly.

'Relax you big baby, it'll only take a minute.' Tadashi replied, a big grin on his face. 'Besides got haven't gotten to see my lab yet!'

'Or mine.' Rena added, 'you can decide who's is best. Mine or Mr boring over here.' Hiro sniggered as Tadashi dramatically swung a hand over his heart, feigning being wounded beyond words. They walked on, talking about nonsense until they reached the open lab.

'Be careful.' Rena advised her youngest brother, 'you may get decapitated by a rogue experiment as soon as the door opens.' Hiro swallowed slightly nervously as the door swung open. She was right to warn him though, Gogo's bike flew so close to his that she was surprised he didn't escape with a new haircut. She grinned at the look of astonishment one his face and wandered over to her own section of the lab as Tadahsi toured him around the place the students shared.

'Hey squish!' Honey yelled from across the room, 'come over here, will you?' Rena jogged over, anxiously looking over her shoulder at Gogo explaining her newest project to Hiro.

'Hey Honey, what's up?' she asked apprehensively, eyeing up the huge ball of metal in front of her.

'How hot does this need to be heated again? I know Callaghan mentioned it the other week, but I can't remember the exact temperate!'

'500 Kelvin.' Rena replied absent-mindedly, subconsciously running her fingers through her hair.

'Thanks Squish,' replied Honey, 'When was the last time you brushed your hair? It literally looks like a bird's nest.'

'Wait, you're supposed to brush it?!' exclaimed Rena, eyes wide. Honey rolled her eyes at her back as she turned on her heel and walked back over towards Hiro, who was busy being amazed by Wasabi and his freakish cleaning habits.

'Hey Wasabi!' she said enthusiastically, 'errr who's this?' She teased, pointing at Hiro, 'is it an ugly robot you've been working on?' Hiro opened his mouth, about to retort with some sarcastic remark when Fred crept up behind him. Hiro turned as he felt a presence behind him, and jumped a foot in the air as he spotted Fred's lizard face an inch away from his own. Rena had to clutch onto the wall behind her for support, she was laughing so hard. Hiro shot her a reproachful look as she straightened up, her shoulders still shaking from laughter.

'Sorry buddy, I should've warned you about Fredzilla over there.' Rena said.

'Fredzilla?! I LOVE THAT!' Yelled the lizard enthusiastically.

'Well done genius, now you've given him ideas.' Wasabi sighed, but Rena grinned at him. She followed the giant lizard towards the sofa that he always occupied, safely away from any experiments that may be going on. She sat on the floor, crossed legged next to the battered old armchair. The others joined her, chatting about something that she didn't particularly care about. She turned around, expecting to see Tadashi and Hiro coming to sit with them, but they never came. She frowned in confusion, wondering where they were. Honey voiced her thoughts before she even got the chance to herself.

'Hey, Squish, where's Hiro and Tadashi?' She asked gently, as though she was afraid of offending her. Rena looked up at her tall frame, a bit confused by the tone of her words.

'I don't know Honey.' she responded as the tall girl sat down next to her.

'I never realised how close they were.' Said a new voice, Rena looked up to see Gogo walking over to join them.

'Yeah,' shrugged Rena slightly sadly, 'Tadashi's always adored Hiro, and the other way around, I guess he was always a Father figure to Hiro. It's difficult to tear them away from one another sometimes.' She sniffed, surprising herself as she felt her vision become blurry with tears. 'I- I guess I have always felt a little left out sometimes.' She added quietly. What the hell am I doing? She thought to herself quickly Am I actually CRYING? Because they're close? What's wrong with me? She quickly wiped the tears away, laughing at her own stupidity. 'Anyway, I discovered this new song today, it's really good and I wanted to show you an-' she halted mid-sentence as she felt Honey's warm hand on her back. She looked up, slightly startled at the fact that all her friends were looking at her with something that could only be described as concerned.

'Are you alright?' Honey asked gently. Rena felt a sudden rush of affection for her friends and their concern that tears prickled in her eyes again.

'Yes! I'm fine! Thank you for your concern though.' She answered weakly. She was grateful that they noticed that she did not want to talk about it any longer, and moved onto another subject. She joined in quickly, not wanting to worry them more than she already had.

'DUDE! Ow!' yelped Hiro as Tadashi ripped a line of duct tape from his arm. 'What the hell was that f-,' he was shocked into silence as the sound of a balloon inflating filled the room. Tadashi looked over at him almost smugly.

'This is what I've been working on.'

The robot looked at Hiro, before walking forwards with a squeak of his short legs. Hiro looked up at the robot quizzically. He looks like a marshmallow he thought to himself, smiling slightly. This was so Tadashi. A giant, non-threatening freakin' marshamallow. After moving a small chair out of his way, the robot reached him.

'Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted to your attention when you said ow.' Tadashi was behind the robot, positively beaming with joy at his invention.

Hiro paused uncertainly, 'A robotic, nurse?' He questioned hesitantly. He was not sure whether not to be impressed. But he was right. This was so on brand for his elder brother.

'I will scan you now,' Baymax said, 'scan complete.' Huh. Hiro thought to himself. That was fast, I'll give him that.

'You have a slight epidermal abrasion on your forearm. I recommend an antibacterial spray.'

'Woah hang on,' Hiro replied, determind to see how much coding Tadashi had actually done, 'what's in the spray?'

'The primary ingredient in the spray is bacitracin.'

'Ah. Bummer. I'm actually allergic to that.'

'You are not allergic to bacitracin. You do however have a slight allergy to peanuts.'

Ok. Now he was impressed. He turned to his brother as Baymax sprayed his arm. 'You've done some serious coding on this thing, huh?'

'Programmed him with over 10,000 medical procedures.' Boasted Tadashi happily. He grinned at his little brother as he examined his hard work, commenting on the various cameras and tech that he had used to create his robot. The two brothers were so immersed in their conversation that they did not notice a lone figure appear in the door frame. She cleared her throat loudly and they both turned.

'Having fun?' Asked Rena pleasantly, 'sorry to break it to you geniuses, but we've got to head off now. Lab's shutting soon. And besides,' she added, looking at Hiro 'isn't there a bot fight that someone desperately needs to get to?'

'Oh... yeah.' said Hiro, all the enthusiasm for bot fighting that he had showed previously gone. Tadashi watched him hopefully, he seemed as though he wanted to stay a little longer to explore, just like Tadashi had hoped. Hiro followed his sister out of Tadashi's lab and into the hallway where they stood waiting for him to finish packing up.

'So..' offered Hiro, 'what have you been working on?'

Rena chuckled. 'Nothing nearly as impressive as that, and also something you wouldn't be interested in.' She ruffled his hair affectionately. 'Jesus where is he? I've never known someone to take so long to finish up.' She turned on her heel and went back into the lab. Hiro could hear them talking about something, and began to make his way back into his brother's lab before he saw a man walking towards him. He stiffened slightly, instantly suspicious due to his long time of bot fighting and running into tall, dark strangers who just so happened to want him dead. The man came into view, and Hiro instantly relaxed. He saw the lanyard around his neck, and was quick to make the connection that this man was a professor, not a threat. And besides, his face was kind and gentle. he couldn't have looked intimidating if he tried.

'Nice bot.' The man held out his hand to take a look.

Hiro hesitated. He was always cautious about handing his bot out to strangers, but quickly concluded that the man could do no real harm.

'Uh, sure.'

The man turned the bot over in his hand, seemingly impressed. Hiro couldn't help but feel a surge of pride in his chest as the man looked over his bot. It was then that his siblings emerged from the lab at last.

'Oh hey Professor Callaghan,' said Tadashi nonchalantly, 'we're just finishing up here.'

Hiro's jaw dropped. 'Callaghan, as in... as in... Callaghan's laws of robotics?! No. Way!'

'That's right,' beamed Callaghan, 'ever thinking about applying here?' He started walking down the hall, Hiro following, postively startstruck.

'SEE!' Tadashi exclaimed excitedly to his sister, 'Hamada rule number 23! I told you! I knew stalling would work - I just had to get Hiro to see Callaghan.'

Rena rolled her eyes at her giddy big brother. Secretly though, she was impressed. Hiro would absolutely try to apply here now. She held up her hand and they fistbumped triumphantly.

'Hang on, that means he'll be hanging around on campus with us all of the time. Tadashi! I can't handle all that Hiro!' she groaned. Tadashi chuckled at her joke, seemingly unaware that what she said was at least half-true. She would never admit it to anyone - she loved both of her brothers more than life itself. Hiro was just a bit much sometimes - he still had a lot of growing up to do.

'No ideas! Nothing!'

'Useless!' Bang

'Empty!' Bang

'Brain!' Bang

'Wow. Washed up at 14. So sad.' Tadashi drawled from where he was sitting on his bed. Suddenly, there was Rena at the top of the stairs.

'Will you STOP the banging?! I'm trying to read and you will literally give yourself brain dam-' she paused mid-rant, catching sight of the expression on her brother's face. 'Hey buddy, what's up?' Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Tadashi sit bolt upright, and positively race to Hiro's side. The boy in question had his face in his hands and his shoulders were shaking, presumably with sobs.

'I got nothing! I'm never getting in!'

The two elder siblings looked at each other and nodded, an unspoken agreement being made.

'Hey.' Tadashi spun the chair around so that Hiro faced him. 'We're not giving up on you.'

Suddenly, Hiro felt himself being lifted into the air by his ankles as his siblings dangled him around his room.

'Look for a new angle!'

'Shake things up a bit, come on!'

'Guys, stop! Seriously I-'

'Nope. We are not stopping until you have an IDEA!'

They swung him around between them, Hiro making a mental note to tell Aunt Cass to buy more milk so he could get them back one day. He looked towards the stairs, hoping that she had heard the commotion and would demand that they release him from their evil clutches. But no, she was probably downstairs watching that creepy film that he hated, the one where the guy controlled people using his- hang on. Megabot glinted in the corner of his eye, and an idea sparked in his head.

'I GOT IT!' he roared in pure excitement, 'LET ME DOWN! I'VE GOT IT!'

The siblings obliged, dropping him not so gently onto his unmade bed, where he scrambled over to his desk, quick as lightning despite feeling as though his head was a washing machine. Rena and Tadashi watched in suspense as he desperately scribbled something into a piece of paper.

'And now...' announced Hiro impressively, 'I present to you, my ground-breaking, utterly genius, revolutionary, world chan-'

'Ok we get it, you're clever,' Rena interrupted quickly, before her brother's head got any larger. 'Just give us the idea, fishbrain.'

Hiro held up his sketch in front of them.

'MICROBOTS!'


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little scene of them being friends :))

Anyone need anything else whilst I'm up?' Rena said, addressing the group of friends lazily lounging around the battered old sofa in the corner of the garage. 'I'm gonna get a coffee, does anyone else want one?'  
'If that's alright! Milk and two sugars.'  
'Same here please.'  
'I'll take mine black cheers.'  
'Any chance of a herbal tea?'  
'We literally live in a cafe - OF COURSE there is herbal tea! OK so, two with milk and sugar, a black coffee and a herbal tea. Right.' Rena turned towards Hiro, typing frantically on a keyboard. 'You want anything?'  
He waved his hand towards her distractedly, 'BUSY!'  
Tadashi rose from where he was sitting and carefully stepped over his friends towards his sister. 'I'll come help you.'

'Aww thanks Big T!'

'Where the HELL has that come from?'

'Suits you.'

'If you say so. Squishy.'

She narrowed her eyes at her annoying big brother. He grinned at her as he opened the door up to the cafe.

'Race you!'

'You're literally so old. Never in my life have I met someone so imma- HEY STOP CHEATING!' She bounded up the stairs two at a time, determined to beat him. He was almost at the top when she managed to grab the edge of his blazer and pull him back. He stumbled and grasped the banister. Rena took her chance and slid under his arm, beating him to the top of the stairs. She raised her arms in the air in mock victory. Unfortunately, she didn't see the cap that he'd pelted towards her face.

'OW! That's mean, I won fair and square!' she yelped, rubbing her cheek.

Tadashi scoffed. 'I wouldn't exactly call it fair and square!'

'Whatever. You cheated as well.'

She thrust his hat back into his hand and stalked over towards the kitchen, grabbing mugs out from the cupboard, spooning coffee and a tea bag into each one. Tadashi filled the kettle and set it to boil. The kitchen was silent other than the whistling of the kettle and the sound of Rena rustling around in the fridge for the milk.

'Hey - you're not actually mad are you?'

'What?' Rena said, turning around to face her brother. He was looking at her with concern, chewing his nails. Her face softened. He only chewed his nails when he encountered something that stressed him out, or made him anxious.

'No, course I'm not mad. The nickname isn't that bad, really. T, you worry too much.' She turned back to the fridge, finally locating the milk bottle hidden behind a stack of mince meat and butter.

'I'll do this and you grab some snacks, there's some half opened chips in the cupboard and some muffins that need using just under the microwave.' She started pouring the milk into the respective mugs, and realised that Tadashi hadn't moved.

'Oi! Bonehead! Did you me?'

'What? Oh.. I- yeah.'

She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. He was not acting like Tadashi. She folded her arms and faced him.

'Hey, what's wrong?'

'Nothing! Sorry, just got lost in thought a bit. I'll grab them now.' He tried to move towards the cupboard but she held out an arm, blocking him.

'You must think I'm stupid. Just because I'm not as smart as you or Hiro doesn't mean I'm oblivious. There's clearly something bothering you, spit it out.'

'Course you're as smart as us.' He mumbled.

'Yeah yeah whatever. Now tell me what's wrong.' He winced at the harshness of her tone and she softened slightly. 'Please.'

'I- really, it's nothing.' She raised an eyebrow at him and he sighed heavily.

'They told me you cried. At SFIT.'

Rena blanched. She had completely forgotten about that, choosing instead to suppress any memories of the incident and forget about it completely. She hated, hated crying in front of other people. Especially those who were close to her. The idea that Tadashi and her friends had taken the time to actively begin worrying about her wellbeing made her squirm. Anything to do with vulnerability, particularly the act of discussing it, she utterly and completely despised. She preferred to suppress everything bad that she felt, that way life was easier. Cleaner. Much, much better to understand. There was a reason she liked science and maths. She liked things to be clear and organised. One correct answer to a problem instead of 100 different solutions, each having different outcomes. She knew it was unhealthy. Knew she should talk about the coldness that crept up on her and threatened to choke her. Knew she should talk about the stupid thoughts that kept her up until ungodly hours in the morning, but she couldn't. She didn't have the words, and even if she did they would never come. She hated dealing with people and their emotions - she would much rather leave the therapy to her brother. He was kinder, more understanding. He knew how to fix things. She didn't.

'I- Tadashi I'm fine! You worry way too much. It was nothing.'

The kettle emitted a shrill whistle, startling them both. She turned around quickly, busting herself with the act of pouring the hot water into each of the mugs. Hot tears pricked at her eyes and she blinked them away angrily. 'No.' She thought to herself. 'Not again, not in front of him. He'll drag me off to therapy before I even get a word in edgeways. Not happening.'

She put the kettle down and Tadashi grabbed her wrist.

'Hey. You know I love you, right? So does Hiro, I know he does.'

'I know, T. I know.'

He didn't look convinced, and opened his mouth to say something more before she interrupted him.

'Come on. The others will be wondering where we got to.'

Thankfully he didn't notice how much her hands shook as she carefully carried the tray back downstairs.

'Ok here's one for you Rena - Krei, Professor Callaghan and Fred.'

'Ok well I'm gonna marry Krei cause he's the obvious choice. So. Much. Money. And-'

She looked over at Fred, who made a very unattractive kissing face at her. She gagged and the rest of the gang laughed appreciatively.

'This is a hard one, I must admit. But I guess I'll kiss Fred and kill Callaghan. Wouldn't want to kiss Tadashi's one true love - he'd never forgive me.' Tadashi spat his coffee out as the rest of the friends roared with laughter.

'Oh come off it Tadashi, we all know you'd literally give anything to snog Callaghan. You're OBSESSED with the guy.' Gogo teased.

Tadashi grimaced. 'Ok. SWIFTLY moving on, I have one for you Wasabi...'

Rena tuned him out as she looked over at Hiro, brows furrowed in concentration as jabbed at a tiny robot with a screwdriver. He looked tired, his eyes were dropping and she could see that his grip kept slackening on the screwdriver and slipping out of place. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him out of the garage, not feverishly working on his microbots. She hesitated, unsure whether or not to interfere with what he was doing. Before she could come to a decision however, she was rapidly snapped back to the present.

'Hey! Rena! Oi!' Gogo was snapping her fingers in her face.

'What? Oh, sorry. Just got lost in thought there.'

Gogo smiled, slightly evilly. 'We're gonna play truth or dare.'

'Oh dear god.'

'And unfortunately for you, it's your turn! Truth or dare?'

She hesitated. Last time they played truth or dare, they made her eat a raw egg. She was off school for a week with the worst food poisoning she'd ever encountered.

'Truth.'

'I expected that after the egg incident.' Gogo sniggered, 'ok. I've got one for you - what's your deepest, darkest fear?'

'Jesus that's a question and a half.' Rena replied, 'lemme think about that one for 3 hours and I'll get back to you.' They looked at her expectantly and she paused, thinking. There were hundreds. Deep water, being kicked out of SFIT, Cass dying, Hiro dying, Tadashi dying, cars, the human centipede film that Fred had made them watch a few years back.

'Um, probably any more of my family dying on me.' she answered sheepishly. She laughed gently, but everyone else was looking at her in concern. She cringed, wishing she had gone with the centipede film. Tadashi placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

'Well luckily no one's gonna be leaving you anytime soon! Unfortunately you're stuck with me for the long run.' It was like magic, all tension was instantly removed. Tadashi was good like that.

A few hours passed quickly, they played a few more rounds of truth or dare (the most entertaining part of this being Wasabi having to take his sock off using nothing but his teeth. The rest of them were utterly convinced he was gonna hurl all over them. Luckily he did not.) Before they knew it, it was 10pm and they had no choice but to go home, leaving the 3 Hamada's alone in the garage. Tadahsi stretched out on the sofa, yawning as Rena stacked the empty mugs and bowls onto the black tray they had brought them down on, then promptly flopping down onto Tadashi's legs. He kicked his legs into the air, sending her sprawling onto the floor. She made a very rude gesture to him that she would never dare do in front of their Aunt and he smirked at her.

'Don't know why you're getting so comfortable, we best be heading back upstairs. It gets freezing in here at night, wouldn't recommend sleeping here.'

'I'll go in a minute.' Tadashi yawned, turning over and burying his head into a cushion.

'No I'm being serious, come on. You can help me take all of this upstairs.'

'Fine, fine! I'm coming.' He groaned, standing up and grabbing a couple of empty wrappers that were still scattered across the floor. He straightened up and looked over to where Hiro was still working feverishly, his hair standing up on edge he had run his fingers through it that many times. Tadahsi strode over to him and spun his chair around so that he was facing him.

'Come on, time to go back upstairs now. You've been on here for ages. You can carry on tomorrow.'

'Can't.' Hiro mumbled, 'I still need to-' he was interrupted by Tadashi lifting his chin up and looking carefully into his eyes.

'Hiro,' he said in concern, 'when was the last time you ate? Or slept?'

'I don't know, yesterday? The day before? It doesn't matter now, I need to work on the-'

'Uh uh. You're not staying in here any longer. It's unhealthy.'

'So? I-' Hiro yawned massively 'I'll tleep sater.' His words were becoming increasingly slurred and Tadahsi was quick to notice the way his hands shook ever so slightly as he brushed his fringe out of his eyes. Without a word, he pulled Hiro's arm and lifted him out of his chair. The fourteen year old's back cracked so hard that Rena winced. Hiro stumbled slightly as he made his way towards the door, and Tadashi picked him up in one smooth notion and began to carry him up the stairs, despite his brother's faint, feeble protests. Rena made his way over to Hiro's desk and tidied it up a bit. She stacked all of the papers into a pile, saved his work and shut the computer down. She then packed away his tools carefully, before turning the light off and heading back upstairs.

When she got into the kitchen, Tadashi was watching over some bread in the toaster, and Hiro was nowhere to be seen. She shot him a questioning look and he responded instantly.

'He's burnt out. Low blood sugar. I've given him some orange juice and making him some toast,' he gestured towards the toaster, 'he's not going down into there tomorrow. The microbots can wait.'  
Rena nodded in agreement, setting the tray of mugs next to the sink. 'I'll wash them tomorrow.' She said, yawning. Tadashi nodded and as he did this, the toast popped out, as if it were waiting for a cue somehow. Tadashi busied himself with buttering it, and Rena took this as her cue to leave. She headed back towards the living room, where Hiro was stretched out on the sofa. He was muttering something to himself, and the glass of orange juice sat next to him on the coffee table, untouched. Rena sat down next to him, and he didn't even notice that she had done so until she had slung an arm over his shoulder.

'Oi. Drink your orange juice or you'll drive stresshead over there off a cliff.'

He smiled, 'Ok.' He quickly downed it, so Tadashi wouldn't realise that he hadn't touched it until he had been told to. 'Where is Tadashi? He's been ages?'

'I dunno, he was making toast a minute ago. He'll probably be through in a minute.' Rena yawned hugely. Again. 'Damn, I'm tired. How'd you manage to stay up for a solid 48 hours?'

'In fairness I didn't realise that it had been two days. The crushing feel of failure probably got me through it.' He laughed, but she could tell he was being serious. She was about to say something when Tadashi came in, holding a plate of toast and some muffins.

'Here you big baby.' He said, thrusting the plate at Hiro who took it appreciatively.

'Fanks,' he mumbled through a mouthful of toast, spitting crumbs out everywhere.

'Nice.' Tadashi retorted sarcastically, 'don't do that again alright?'

Hiro nodded, but he wasn't really listening. Rena could tell he was itching to get back to his invention, and wasn't taking in a word of what Tadashi was saying. She rolled her eyes at him, and took a chocolate muffin from the tray. She sat back, watching in mild enjoyment as Tadashi tried to scold their younger brother, listing off plenty of dangers and health risks of what he had just done. Her eyes drooped slowly, and she noticed Hiro's doing the same.

'Ok, ok Tadashi we get it, you read big medical textbooks for fun. I'm going to bed, and I think you should be as well.' She gestured to Hiro at this, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

'You can't boss me around.'

'Oh yeah? Watch me.' She teased, and grabbed him by the ankles. 'Bed time for baby Hiro!' He protested weakly, knowing that he could not overcome her strength. You wouldn't think it, but she was easily the strongest out of the three of them. The best at fighting as well, now that he thought about it. He gave in to the fatigue slowly creeping into his brain, and became limp in her grasp.

'Fine! Fine! You win.'

She grinned. 'Of course, why would you expect any different?'


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The SFIT showcase

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Trigger warnings apply here for panic attacks, hospitals, explosions and vomiting. Please read ahead with caution.

'And next to present, Hiro Hamada.'

Yep, he was terrified. He offered a shaky smile to Honey Lemon's camera as she took a quick selfie, but it quickly dropped as soon as she dragged the rest of the group away. He could barely hear their shouts of encouragement over the roaring in his ears. Here he was, after so many hours of planning and sleepless nights, all the time he had spent in that god forsaken garage. All of the events, trips, parties he had missed out on. Now to see if it was all worth it. He was so close to what he wanted, what he desperately desired more than anything he had ever wanted in his life. And yet, he could. Not. Breath. His hands were shaking and he felt for sure that he was gonna pass out, die right there in the SFIT exhibition hall. Time dragged, he felt as though he had stood there, rooted to the side of the stage for hours. In reality, it was only a few seconds. He knew that. He knew where he was, what he was doing. What he was trying to achieve. He knew his siblings were right there, and he could hear the chatter of people around him. He clung to these things like a lifeline, trying to ground himself despite the panic that was steadily rising in his chest. He clamped his eyes shut, and run his sweaty palms through his hair. Suddenly, warm, familiar hands were on his arms, shoulders, back. They enveloped him and he could feel a heartbeat against his cheek. Breathe. It seemed to be saying. Breathe. Breathe. He took in great, gulping breaths of air, his lungs expanding gratefully. His mind slowed and he could feel his heart rate slowly return to normal. The arms did not let go of him until he had stopped trembling, and when he opened his eyes all he could see was his brother.

'Hey, don't worry. It's okay, you're okay.' He murmured. 'Are you sure you want to go up there?'

Despite himself, Hiro nodded. He was not going to throw away his only chance to go here just because he had stage-fright. Not happening. He returned Tadashi's fist bump and shakily climbed the stairs to the stage. He quickly rammed his transmitter onto his head and looked up at the tiny crowd that had gathered to watch his project. The bright light momentarily blinded him, and he flinched away from its harshness. He considered bolting, until he saw them all collected below him. Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, Gogo, Aunt Cass, Rena, Tadashi. They looked at him excitably. He locked eyes with his elder brother. Breathe, he mouthed, nodding. He took in a deep breath and straightened up. He could do this.

'Hi. My name is Hiro, Hiro Hamada, and I-' the microphone shrieked shrilly, and he winced. He saw a guy out of the corner of his eye leave, bored. He tore his eyes away from his retreating back and looked at the judges. 2 women and Professor Callaghan. The latter was waiting patiently, kind eyes twinkling in the light. The two women were peering him, obviously unimpressed. He took another deep breath. If he wanted to get in here, he needed to up his game.

'This,' he boomed confidently, 'is a microbot.' He held up one his tiny bots and noticed a few more people taking interest. This gave him the confidence boost he needed and he ploughed on. 'Sure, it doesn't look like much, but when it teams up with its friends...' Suddenly, microbots had come spilling out of the blue bins they had brought, snaking their way across the hall, weaving in and out of people's legs. He heard a few gasps of surprise, and sighed in relief. So far so good.

'Things get a little more interesting.'

He was in a daze. People were cheering and applauding. Actually cheering for his invention. He felt giddy with relief, and pelted across the stage to where his family and friends were waiting for him. He dove into Tadashi's arms, hugging him tighter than he ever had before. He was pelted with high fives and fist bumps, and yet more hugs by both his sister and Aunt Cass. He was ecstatic, the grin on his face so large he was certain it would tear his cheeks into two. The celebrations of how well his presentation had gone abruptly came to a halt. He sensed someone standing behind him, and quickly whipped around. He almost broke his neck, looking up at the clean, well-dressed man who towered above him.

'Impressive.' He purred deeply.

'Alistair Krei.' He said in disbelief. The world's biggest business man, talking to him? It felt unreal.

'May I?' He asked, stretching out a hand to inspect one of his microbots.

'Sure.' He said, handing Krei one of his microbots.

'Extraordinary. I want your microbots at KreiTech.'

'Shut. Up.' He could hardly believe his ears, surely this wasn't real? Before he could even get a word in edgeways, Professor Callaghan had slunk over and stood by Krei. Hiro noticed that all previous kindness that he had shown had disappeared, only to be replaced by something that could only be described as hatred. It did not suit the man, his face had become hard and lined, eyes losing all of the twinkling they had just 5 minutes prior. It was then that he realised something was seriously wrong.

'With some developing, your tech could be revolutionary. Or, you could sell it to a greedy business man who only has his own self-interest at heart. It is your decision Hiro, but I wouldn't trust KreiTech with your microbots, or anything else.'

Krei dismissed Callaghan with a quick wave of his hand. 'Robert, I know how you feel about me. But Hiro, you have to understand, I am offering you more money than any 14-year-old could imagine.'

She picked

Hiro felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at his sister and Rena locked eyes with him. He hesitated, considering his options. But he was happy with what he had, he did not need money. And, more than anything, he trusted his sister with all of his heart, and he knew what that look in her eyes meant. Don't trust him. With a slightly heavy heart, he shook his head.

'I appreciate the offer, but they're not for sale.'

He saw a dark shadow pass across Krei's face and knew instantly that he had made the right choice.

'I thought you were smarter than that.' He sneered, before turning on his heel and stalking off.

'Mr Krei.' His sister's voice was icy cold, and it was so unlike her that Hiro looked up at her in surprise. There was fire in her eyes and her mouth was set in a thin, hard frown. 'That's my brother's.'

'Oh!' Exclaimed Krei, all anger he had just showcased seemed to have evaporated. 'That's right!'

He tossed the microbot back to Hiro, who caught and it shoved it deep into his pocket. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Rena squeezed his shoulder before letting go, and he appreciated the gesture. All tension melted away as Callaghan looked over at him and positively beamed. He produced a letter out of his pocket and handed it to him.

'I'll see you when classes start.'

Rena watched Hiro, beaming as he danced his way down the stairs leading out of the exhibition hall. He'd done it! He'd actually gotten in! She was so relieved she felt as though she was going to start sobbing. She had no idea what he would have done if he hadn't gotten in, but knew enough about him to know that it would not have been good. She looked over at Tadashi, knowing that what she felt was nothing compared to pure elation he must be experiencing. He was practically quivering with excitement and she had to suppress the laughter that she felt rising in her chest.

'Come on geniuses! Let's fuel those hungry brains! Dinner is on me!'

'YES! NOTHING IS BETTER THAN FREE FOOD!' Fred yelled, absolutely beside himself. She rolled his eyes at him and fell into step with Honey Lemon and Gogo, who were enthusiastically discussing the tech that they had seen on display. She joined in with the conversation about the jetpack designed for cats, and a few minutes passed before she realised that neither of her brothers were no longer with them.

'Hey Aunt Cass,' she asked, turning around and waiting for her Aunt to catch up a few steps. 'Where's Hiro and Tadashi?'

Her Aunt put an arm around her and squeezed, 'Oh they went for a walk together, Tadahsi said he'd meet us back at the car.'

Rena's blood ran cold. She had no right to be jealous, she knew that. She wasn't 10 anymore. But... it did still sting. They were meant to be in this together. A team!

'Speaking of things missing,' Aunt Cass interrupted her string of thoughts and she could not be more grateful for it. 'Where's your hoodie?'

'Crap! I must have left it in the hall and forgot to pick it up! I'll head back and grab it, see if I can find those two and get them to hurry up because I am starving!' She broke away from her Aunt, and jogged back towards the entrance. They had walked surprisingly far in such a short amount of time.

Something was wrong. As soon as she came within earshot of the hall, a shrill ringing pierced her ears. She picked up her pace, panic slowly rising in her chest as she realised what that alarm was. She rounded the corner and saw the smoke billowing from the building, the angry flames huge and reaching up to the sky. She fell to her knees, shaking, hand clasped to her mouth in horror. Hiro. Tadashi. She was up on her feet before she knew it, pushing past people, desperate to find them, pull them back to safety. She was screaming and screaming their names, becoming increasingly more nauseated for every second that passed without them in her view. She was nearly at the entrance when she saw a green blazer out of the corner of her eye. She pelted towards the sight of her elder brother, catching up with him and Hiro at the foot of the stairs. She grabbed Tadashi's sweaty hand and began to pull him away, but to her shock he pulled his hand out of her grasp. It was then she realised Hiro, a few feet behind them with tears in his eyes and screaming 'NO' at their brother with increasing desperation. She clocked on.

'Tadashi Hamada.' She croaked, 'don't you dare. DON'T YOU DARE GO IN THERE! TAKE ANOTHER STEP AND I SWEAR TO YOU I WILL STRANGLE YOU.' She was screaming again, and her lungs were quickly filling with smoke. 'Please! Please don't leave us!' She pleaded. She'd never begged for anything in her life, but knew that if her brother was to run into that death trap, he would never come back out. Ever.

'Callaghan is in there! Someone has to help!' He yelled, and quick before she could do anything he had turned and and ran into the building. She felt like she had been winded, watching her brother run into the flames. Hiro ran towards her and she threw an arm out, blocking him from going any further. She picked him up and ran, wanting to get away from the building. Then, she could leave Hiro and run back in for her idiot brother. She gently put Hiro on the ground, out of harms way, and faced him, tears running down her cheeks.

'I'm going to get him, I promise. You need to stay here, don't move a muscle. Hamada rule 23.'

He opened his mouth to say something, but cramped it shut. It broke her heart to leave him there, a crumpled, sobbing mess on the grass, but she had to go back and get Tadashi. She turned, and ran back towards the burning building, despite every one of her instincts screaming at her not to. She was almost there when -

BOOM

She was flying through the air as though in slow motion. She could not think of anything except for Tadashi, burning in the fire, the smoke engulfing him, the smoke, the smoke that was filling her eyes and ears and brain and making her vision swim. She howled in pain, pain at the world and Tadashi and the fact that she was flying through the air. Then, as suddenly as it had started, she heard a loud crack as she landed on the cold, hard ground and everything went black.

She stirred feebly, faintly aware of a crushing pain radiating from her left arm and hot blood trickling down her leg, kneck and forehead. Rena's head felt as though it was full of treacle, thick and heavy. If only she could go back to sleep, she was in so much pain and sleep felt so nice...

Then she sat bolt upright, the ghastly smell of smoke in her nose reminding her of where she was. Her voice was hoarse as she screamed her brothers name. She didn't even feel the pain as she dragged herself to her feet, focusing on nothing but getting Hiro to safety and Tadashi... Tadashi. No. She could not think about that now, she had to get to her baby brother. She could feel her screams scratching away at her raw throat as she half walked, half crawled around on the ground. She saw a feebley stirring figure out of the corner of her eye and made her way towards it as fast as she could, stumbling and slipping on the concrete. She reached him at last, he was lying on his side. She grabbed him under the elbows and attempted to hoist him up, only to be greeted with a scream of pain from her left arm. She let go quickly, face screwed up in unbearable pain as she considered a plan. She knew they had to get away from the smoke, and fast. She shook him gently, and Hiro awoke.

'Hey.' She croaked, but that's all she could manage for she was attacked by a brutal coughing fit, raw lungs screaming in pain as she inhaled great, huge mouthfuls of soot and smoke and air. Hiro didn't need telling, he scrambled to his feet and draped one of her arms around his shoulder, hoisting them both up. She pointed feebly to the bushes, and they staggered towards them. She knew they must have looked like they were attempting a bizarre, sick three legged race and suppressed a manic desire to laugh. They reached the plants after what seemed like an age, instantly collapsing on the grass. After a few more minutes of coughing, Rena sat up and looked at her brother.

'Are you alright?' She croaked.

He shook his head. They locked eyes and started sobbing. Rena took a shaking arm and pulled her brother into a one armed hug. He clung to her, wailing. She looked towards the burning building and her stomach cramped.

Tadashi.

Before she could stop it, she knelt forwards and vomited. Her throat burnt and her lungs ached, and her arm was screaming with the sudden movement. She was faintly aware of the distant sound of sirens, and a young woman running towards the pair, crying and her arms outstretched. Rena clung to her Aunt as though she was a lifeline, retching and crying. She didn't even want to look at Hiro.

'Where's Tadashi?' Aunt Cass sounded strangely calm, despite the situation. She pulled her niece away from her and looked her in the eye. 'Where. Is. Tadashi?'

Rena shook her head, lips clamped tight together in an effort not to spew again. Aunt Cass seemed very far away all of a sudden, and the curtain of darkness enveloped her once more.

'Hello? Miss, can you hear me?'

Rena awoke again in an ambulance, an oxygen mask on. Her arm was bandaged and she could feel stitches in various places on her arms and head. She nodded feebly, gulping in the clean air.

'Okay, can you sit up for me? There's a good girl.' She did as the paramedic said and sat up gingerly. The paramedic smiled as though she was a very tiny girl. 'You're gonna be fine, we just need to take you to the hospital to get you checked out for smoke inhalation and get that broken arm properly bandaged up and x-rated. Does that sound okay, sugar plum? Now, we are just gonna take this off, and you tell me your lungs hurt at all.' She pulled the mask off and Rena jumped to her feet.

'Where's my brothers?'

The paramedic looked slightly surprised, but seemed to note the tone of urgency in her voice.

'Well dearie, your little brother, Hayden is it? He's perfectly okay, we suspected that he may have hit his head but there were no signs of concussion. He's had to be stitched up as well, but nothing too worrying at all. It seemed you took the brunt of the damage.

Rena breathed a sigh of relief. 'I want to see him.'

'Dearie you can't possibly- ' the paramedic took one look at her desperate face and faltered. 'Well.. alright. Your lungs don't seem as bad as we feared and-'

Rena hadn't heard her, she tore off and quickly found Hiro and Aunt Cass huddled together at the steps of an ambulance. He had an orange shock blanket wrapped around him, and she could see the scarily blank look on his face, like he'd been lost. She whimpered quietly, and sunk down next to him. She pulled him close and hugged him tight, he didn't even seem to notice. She didn't even need to ask where Tadashi was. She could tell by the look on his face. It hit her suddenly, and she buried her face in her hands, a strange numbness creeping across her chest. She wanted to die. Curl up right there, and die. Where would she be without Tadashi? He had always been there, always. To dry her tears and laugh with her and, and-. She closed her eyes and let the pain consume her, sobs wracking her body. She wanted to scream, scream at the injustice of it all. Had she not suffered enough? First her parents, and now this? She had had enough of the grief, the mind numbing, all consuming grief that filled every cell of her being. Then, a voice yelled out of nowhere. Suddenly, people were running back towards the building. She lifted her head from her hands and looked blearily towards the swarm of paramedics advancing on something. No, not something. Someone. She saw a familiar trainer sticking out and was up and running towards him before she knew what she was doing. She was stopped by a line of tape, and clung on to it, stretching her neck out for a view of her brother. She took in short, sharp gasps of air, and ran her fingers though her hair for the hundredth time that hour. Her brother, her gentle, kind, strong brother was lying there. Burnt. Was he breathing? Oh christ, was he breathing? She hoped to god he was couldn't take the suspense, and tried to tear through the police tape blocking her from Tadashi. A police officer approached her as she ducked under the tape and pushed her roughly back.

'Stay back.' He grunted, 'they've just pulled a kid out and need all the room they can get. He's not looking good.'

'Please. Let me through. I- he's my brother.'

The police officer looked shocked, realising what he'd just said. 'Look kid, it's better for you not to see him. I wouldn't let you through even if I was allowed to, some things are best off not bein' looked at.' She nodded numbly, realising that she was fighting a losing battle. He patted her shoulder awkwardly before turning away from her, leaving her to clutch pathetically at the tape. She could hear the paramedics, and realised how suddenly how strong they were fighting to keep him alive. He had become so close, the idiot.

'Don't leave me alone.' She whispered, closing her eyes and letting hot tears run down her cheeks. 'Please Tadashi. Please.' Her knees gave way and she sunk to the floor, whimpering quietly. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the fire, the fire that had almost snatched him away. The fire that may still snatch him away if the paramedics slipped. She felt arms hug her from behind and jumped. She whipped her neck around, not realising that Hiro had crept up behind her. She wrapped her good arm around him. Tight. They crouched there for a moment in an awkward hug before he broke off and pulled her to her feet. She ruffled his hair, sending flecks of ash and soot flying everywhere. He smiled faintly and took her hand.

'He's gonna pull through this.' Rena said, surprising herself at the confident tone she seemed to be speaking with.

'You think?' Hiro croaked. He looked up at her, scarily blank eyes looking up at her.

'Yes. It's Tadashi, he would never leave us.' Her voice faltered at that last statement. He did leave them. He chose a professor over his own family, running into the fire without a care of what would happen to them if he never came back out. No. Rena stopped herself. It's Tadashi. Of course he cared, he just wanted to save Callaghan. Because's he's Tadashi. She let out a shaky breath, conflicted. Hiro didn't seem to notice, and nodded at her. He cared about the two of them more than anything, she knew that. They both did. Aunt Cass came up from behind Rena, and put a warm hand on her shoulder. She smiled, her Aunt Cass was such a calming presence, she could make anything better. Anything.

'They want you back at the ambulance, they're saying they need to take you back to the hospital.'

Rena looked over at Tadashi, a gurney was being rolled towards him. 'In a minute.' She answered softly, putting her head on Cass's shoulder and closing her eyes momentarily. 'Sorry for vomiting on you earlier.' Cass laughed gently, the sound was like music to Rena's ears. She squeezed Hiro's hand, and turned away from Tadashi and the fire. Panic arose in her throat as she said 'let's go find out what the situation is.' He was alive, she knew he was. She would know if he was dead. It was this strange confidence that allowed her to put one foot in front of the other as they headed back to the clump of ambulances. Aunt Cass broke away from her and Hiro, and went to speak with one of the paramedics. All confidence she had felt earlier had disappeared as she saw the guy's anxious face. She clutched Hiro tightly as they spoke, fearing that if she let go of him she would surely collapse. She walked over to them, and one simple sentence was enough to make Rena lightheaded with relief.

'He's alive.'


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rena and her family anxiously await for news on Tadashi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy hello I would just like to point out that I am not a medical professional and yes there will be some inaccuracies in this chapter and for the rest of the work. Nevertheless, I hope you can overlook this and still enjoy my work. Cheers :)

Rena hated hospitals. Hated. Them. As soon as they arrived, she was ushered into a room and poked, prodded, questioned, bandaged and x-rayed. She barely registered what was happening, consumed by her own thoughts. The brief happiness that she had felt upon learning that Tadashi was alive was quickly extinguished and replaced with a gnawing worry that ate away at her as the minutes slowly ticked away. Why hadn't she heard anything? Surely they should have let her known what was happening by now? What if he'd died? What if she never got a chance to say goodbye? The idea that the last thing she ever said to him was angry shouts made her heave into a pathetic cardboard bowl held under her chin by a sympathetic nurse.

She was sure that hours had passed by the time they let her escape to the waiting room. She had barely gotten through the door when a blur of blonde hair had swept her up and hugged her, quickly followed by several more pairs of arms. She felt safe in the arms of her friends, and hugged back with all the strength that she could muster. Admittedly, it was not much. It took them several seconds to disentangle, and when she was finally free she sank down in the nearest chair. Her eyes quickly swept over the tiny room, they seemed to be the only people in there. She relaxed slightly, she was not in the mood for forced smiles with strangers. Hiro was sat in a chair in the corner, staring into space. Cass was sat next to him, trying to coax a conversation out of him. He only gave the slightest of nods, and this was the only indication he gave of him being there at all. Rena realised with a pang that he had Tadashi's SFIT hat clutched tightly to his chest, his fingers were tracing the letters embroidered on the front slightly. She sighed and stretched out in the hard wooden chair, resting her new cast onto the arm rest. Her friends collected around her, sitting in chairs in the close proximity. It was a few minutes before she broke the heavy silence.

'Where's Tadashi?'

Aunt Cass looked over at her, scandalised. 'They didn't tell you?'

She shook her head, lips pursed together tightly.

'He's gone in for emergency surgery.'

She let out a deep breath, stomach still in knots. She didn't want to ask why. Didn't need to know. 'Okay.'

She glanced at her phone for the first time since she had heard the fire alarm. 7:43? How the HELL was it 7:43? Surely not? How had it only been 3 short hours since Hiro's presentation? Her life had completely changed in 3 short hours. She scarcely believed it. She tried to distract herself from the idea of Tadashi sat in a far off room, being sliced open and meddled with.

'How did you guys get here?'

'We drove your Aunt's car. She threw me the keys before tearing off after you lot.' Gogo replied, 'we tried to follow her but by the time we reached the hall they'd blocked it off, said we weren't allowed any nearer.' She trailed off slightly, considerably less nonchalant than normal. Rena nodded, not having the energy to re-spark the weak conversation. They sat in silence. Honey took her hand and squeezed it, but she barely noticed. Her mind was in overdrive.

She wasn't sure if the hours dragged or went by so rapidly that she didn't notice. A few weak attempts at conversation had been made, but all friendly chatter had died before it had really started. Her friends slowly trickled away, starting with Wasabi at 10pm, making promises to come and visit again as soon as he could. He was followed by Fred, then Gogo, and eventually Honey Lemon at around midnight. Rena's eyes drooped, but she didn't dare sleep. Not like she could anyway, every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Tadashi running into the exhibition hall, and Hiro's screams. She sat up and dug her palms into her eyes, rubbing until she could see stars and swirls of colour dance across her vision. She could hear Aunt Cass rifling through the small pile of magazines for what seemed like the tenth time that hour. Cass couldn't seem to keep still, whether or not she was flicking through a magazine she wasn't reading, pacing up and down the room or constantly getting up and switching seats. Rena and Hiro stayed where they were, Rena stretched uncomfortablely across two or three seats and the latter remaining firmly where he was, knees tucked up to his chest. The only indication that any time passed at all was the slow, monotonous ticking of the clock on the wall above the door. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was driving her mad.

Another hour dragged by, and Rena was sat chewing her nails when a doctor entered the room. Her neck snapped up instantly, and Aunt Cass had stopped her vigourus pacing. Even Hiro looked up, and Rena noticed sadly that he was holding onto Tadahshi's hat so tightly that his fingers had gone white. The doctor quickly read the mood of the room, and sat down on a seat near the door, as though he was ready to bolt. A moment passed before he opened his mouth. Rena couldn't breathe.

'Well.' He said, slowly, deliberately. 'I am pleased to tell you that the surgery was a success.'

Aunt Cass's pale face flooded with colour, and Hiro dropped his feet down onto the floor with a gentle thud. All three of them grinned, and the doctor's shoulders slumped in relief at their happiness at his news. He adjusted the clipboard resting on his knees and pushed his glasses up his nose, somewhat anxiously before continuing.

'Yes, Tadashi Hamada is a very lucky young man. Right now, he is in a medically induced coma. We don't know how long it is until he wakes up. Due to the extent of his injuries, this could be a mere few days, or it could be weeks. But he's alive.'

'Extent of his injuries?' Hiro said shakily, 'how, how b-badly is he hurt?'

Before the doctor could say another word, Rena strode over to her baby brother and hugged him close. He melted into her touch, and rested his head on her chest. She could hear him muttering very quietly to himself, and knew he was listening to her heartbeat. As weird as that seemed, she knew it was something he used to comfort himself. She suddenly felt extremely guilty, she was the eldest, at least for now. She needed to be looking out for him more, and she should have clocked on how badly he was hurting much, much earlier. She let her free hand wander up to his mop of hair, and began to run it through her dirty fingers. Time to take responsibility. She straightened up, and looked the doctor in the eye. She had to be strong.

'Well, you two sure are close. I don't think I've ever seen siblings this affectionate!'

Despite his kind tone, she felt a flash of annoyance. She hated when people commented on how close the three of them were. Why did it matter?

'Our parents are dead.' She stated simply, 'we need to look out for one another.'

Slightly taken aback, he nodded. 'Well yes of course, I suppose given your circumstances, it is not unusual...' He trailed off, and she narrowed her eyes.

'How badly is he hurt?' She asked, dreading the answer but not showing it. Hiro tensed slightly.

'When we found him, he was underneath a fallen beam.' Aunt Cass gasped, but the doctor ploughed on. 'However, if this had not happened, he would have ventured even further into the fire, and he would not have been so lucky then.' He paused and swallowed thickly. 'We were unsure of the extent of his injuries, but a quick analysis here at the hospital showed extreme damage to his lower half. In particular, his right leg. To put it simply; he had extreme nerve damage. As well as this, a number of deep gashes in his leg. However, the extent of the damage was so extreme that we only had one option for him to survive.' He paused, and looked at their expressions of horror. 'I am sorry, but removing his leg was the only option available.'

The doctor had left the room with Cass to discuss bills and insurance and god knows what else. Rena and Hiro sat in a nasty silence, minds reeling over what they had just heard. Rena was desperate to offer some form of comfort to her little brother, despite wanting to throw up all over again. She hesitated, and decided it was better to get it over and done with.

'So... not all bad right?' Rena offered hopefully, looking down at Hiro. When he gave no answer, she continued. 'He may be in a coma and without a leg, but that won't stop him. He'll pull through this. I know he will. He'll wake up, and then life will go back to normal. It will.' Hiro nodded.

'I.. I guess.'

'And besides.' She poked his cheek, 'I'm sure we'll come up with something. And when I say we, I mean you, Mr Genius Inventor. Make him a really badass prosthetic, and then we can steal it if he gets too annoying.'

To her delight, Hiro laughed. She smiled along with him, feeling slightly guilty that she was making a joke at Tadashi's expense but deciding it was worth it to see Hiro smile. It didn't last long, and he looked at her with large, dull eyes.

'What if he doesn't wake up?' Rena winced slightly at the idea, and quickly shoved it to a corner in her mind where she wouldn't have to think about it. She forced a smile and ruffled his hair.

'He will. I believe in him.'

The door opened again, and Cass came back into the room. She came and sat down beside Rena, and placed an arm around her shoulder, hugging her close. Rena returned the affection as best as she could with a cast on.

'I just spoke to the doctors and they suggested that we go home.' Rena could tell that the idea pained her Aunt Cass, that she would rather die than leave Tadashi alone. She straightened up, time to become responsible.

'I'll tell you what,' she said. 'You stay here with Tadashi, and Hiro and I will go home. I'll leave my phone on full volume, and you can call me with any updates. We can sleep and return in the morning, and I'll bring some stuff with me, for you and Tadashi.'

Aunt Cass smiled gently. 'Okay. Thank you Rena. I love you.'

'I love you too Aunt Cass.'

After much protesting, she had finally managed to wrestle Hiro into the passenger seat of the car. He sat there, sulking. He didn't want to leave, and Rena didn't blame him. She didn't either, truth be told. But Tadashi wouldn't want them to sit in a smelly hospital waiting room just for him. She breathed out slowly and placed her good hand on the steering wheel. Driving one handed. This could be interesting. The doctor never explicitly said she couldn't drive... he just advised against it. She hadn't driven in a long time, preferring to leave the wheel to Tadashi. Cars made her feel queasy, ever since that day when... No. She thought to herself angrily. Stop. You need to be strong right now, you cannot start blubbering again. Slowly sucking in a breath, she steadied her shaking hand and turned they key. Now was not the time to get scared over a damn car. She reversed out of the multistory and onto the road, terrified that another car would come out of nowhere and take them out before she even had a chance to swerve out of their path. She realised as she reached the city centre that she nothing to worry about, though. The streets were empty, only a handful of vehicles passed them. She relaxed more as they drove on, attention now back on Hiro as well as the road. His hood was pulled over his head, and he had his legs tucked up tightly to his chest again. Like he wanted to disappear. You can't fix this. She thought to herself, not yet. Tadashi is the only one that can help him.

'What are you most looking forward to about SFIT?' She asked Hiro, fighting hard to keep the tremble out of her voice. She couldn't reverse what had happened, but she could certainly do her best to keep him distracted from it. She saw him perk up slightly, as though she had only just reminded him that he had won a scholarship to the school of his dreams.

'I don't know. Having a private lab would be pretty cool. Then I wouldn't have to share with you dodos.' His voice was muffled under his hood, but she could tell he was smiling.

'You know, it takes a while to be able to get your own private lab. Freshman's always just get a segment in the public lab.'

He pulled the hood down, looking outraged. 'Well you could've TOLD ME THAT!'

'I know. But it's funnier not to.'

He rolled his eyes and slumped back into his seat. He was still gripping Tadashi's hat.

'Well done on grabbing that.' Rena said, eyeing the cap in her brother's hands. 'He would've killed us if we'd lost it.'

Hiro sighed heavily. 'Yeah. He probably would. His fault for dropping it.'

'True.'

The conversation died. Rena didn't mind, the tension in the air had melted away somewhat and she felt slightly more at ease. It wasn't long before they were pulling back into the cafe, and she got out of the car feeling stupidly proud of herself. They entered the cafe in silence, Rena locking the door behind her and dropping the keys into her pocket. Clumsily, she made her way upstairs. Her eyes were dropping even more so than they were in the hospital. She made it to the the living room, Hiro close behind her. They stood in darkness for a second before she found the light switch, flicking it on and flooding the small room with light. It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the harshness.

'Well, I'm going to bed.' She said to Hiro, yawning massively.

'Same.'

'Do you need anything?'

'Don't think so.'

'Give me a shout if you do, then.'

He nodded and made his way quietly up to his room. Rena made her way to the kitchen and got a glass of water, not realising how thirsty she was until she'd gulped down the whole thing. She pulled out her phone, the screen read 2:23am. It pinged twice with messages from her Aunt Cass, and she replied quickly before she became worried. She debated about whether or not to text her friends in the group chat they shared, but decided against it. Besides, they'd all be asleep anyway. She should be too. Flicking the light off again, she made her way up

the stairs and into her tiny bedroom. She didn't share with Hiro and Tadashi, instead opting to take the smallest room in the entire building. Rena didn't mind it, it wasn't like she spent a lot of time in there anyway. She collapsed onto her bed, throwing her phone onto her bedside table. She was going to get changed into some pyjamas, but three seconds of fumbling clumsily with her new cast was enough for her sluggish brain. Her eyes slid shut, and she was asleep before she even pulled the blankets around herself.


	6. Chapter 6

'Tadashi! No!'

He tried to shout but no sounds were coming out. He stared at his brother's retreating back, the flames already hot on his face. He tried to run, but his feet were stuck stubbornly to the floor. The panic arose as he flailed his arms around wildly, trying to move. Rena ran in after Tadashi and yet he couldn't move. He screamed and screamed, yet not making a noise. They were in there. His siblings. Burning. Smoking. Dying. The smoke was everywhere, clouding his mind, making him feel sluggish. Suddenly, his parents were there. He reached out to them, desperate for comfort but their kind faces melted into fury.

'You could've saved them!' They screamed in his face, they no longer resembled the kind people framed in the doorway. They resembled demons, their faces twisted and their eyes sunken and black. They hissed in his face, terrifyingly colourless eyes inches away from his own, full of evil. The flames had consumed him, he could feel his flesh melting away. His parents laughed at his silent shrieks of pain. The pain, it was so much. Too much. He was going to die. Surely he was going to die. He wanted to die, wanted the pain to end.

'You could've saved them!' The monsters screamed, 'you could've saved them! Now they're dead! And it's all your fault!'

All your fault.

All.

Your.

Fault...  
\----------------------------------------------  
Hiro awoke suddenly in a tangle of sheets, sweating and shaking. Rena's face was inches from his own, white with fear. He sat up, and the room spun dangerously. He heaved, and she dove out of the way in the nick of time as he turned and vomited onto the wooden floor. He felt the bed sink slightly as his sister climbed onto it behind him, and put a hand on his back as he retched and spluttered. Finally, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and turned to face her. He was still shaking horribly, and wished that it'd stop.

'You alright?' She whispered gently. He shook his head and collapsed into her, shoulders shaking with sobs. She embraced him in an awkward one-armed hug and stroked his hair carefully as he cried onto her shoulder. It had all seemed so real, the fire was so hot on his face. And his parents...

'Nightmare?' She asked him quietly, and he nodded.

'You were dead. Both of you. And I tried to stop you from running in, but I was stuck. And then... and then our parents were there. They were like monsters. They shouted at me, said it was my fault. And the fire was there, it was burning me alive.' He said in a garbled rush, voice muffled slightly by his sister. She shifted slightly, and moved his head until it was resting on her chest. He could hear her heart beating against his ear.

'Hear that? I'm alive Hiro, you're alive. Tadashi is alive. And I swear to you, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving you, ever. And neither is Tadashi.'

'But he rain into a fire.'

'I know, because he's stupid. And it's unlucky that he survived really.' He lifted his head in panic, looking at her in the darkness.

'Wha-? The hell do you mean?'

She swept the hair from his forehead and sighed. 'Because when he wakes up, I'm gonna kill him.'

Hiro snorted, he couldn't help it. They stayed there a couple of minutes in their embrace, and he finally broke apart when he could feel his hand steadying. He grimaced at the smell of vomit - it was getting stronger every passing moment. It was making his stomach turn dangerously and he swallowed anxiously. He stole a glance at his watch, 4:13am. He then realised how tired it was, rubbing his eyes blearily.

'Come share my bed.' Rena said, it wasn't a command, but a suggestion. He nodded, exhausted. Rena wrinkled her nose.

'I'll clean up the vomit first. You go, I'll come down in a minute.'

'What? No!' He exclaimed, 'I'll clean it up, I- I' he failed to stifle a huge yawn and Rena smiled at him sympathetically. She pulled him up by his arm and practically dragged him back down the stairs, ignoring his weak protests. Despite his arguing that he wasn't tired, and insisting that he would clean up the gross mess waiting upstairs, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He awoke a few hours later, lying in the darkness for a second, only faintly aware of his sister snoring gently next to him. He peered over her slowly rising shoulder and looked at the time displayed on the alarm clock. 7:30. He wondered briefly why he was up this earky, and why his whole body ached so badly...

He sat bolt upright as it came to him. The fire. The hospital. Tadashi. He ran his hands through his hair and jumped out of bed, he needed to see his brother. His eyes flicked guiltily over to his sleeping sister, but decided that she looked too peaceful to awake. He crept across the carpeted floor and into the hallway, stumbling around in the dark living room for his shoes that he had thrown off carelessly only a few hours before. Finally, he located his left shoe under the sofa and pulled it on. Practically running to the door, he swiped the keys off of the side and shoved them deep into his pocket. He turned his back on the living room and was about to slip into the cafe to escape when the room flooded with light. He stopped mid-step. Damnit.

'Going somewhere?'

His elder sister was leaning in the doorway, finger still on the light switch. Her voice was ice cold, and she failed to hide the slight shake that carried across the room. He cringed, knowing he was in trouble. Her mouth was set in a thin, hard line and her eyes were blazing. 'What the HELL do you think you're doing?' She wasn't shouting, but he knew he would've felt better if she did. She was speaking in a way that clearly communicated to him that she was beyond angry at his actions - she was disappointed. He sighed and dropped the keys back onto the counter before digging his hands deep inside his pockets.

'Do you have any idea how worried I was? How could you do that to me?'

Hiro would've loved to tell her that she was overreacting, but he knew better than that. Besides, deep down he could admit that this was nowhere near an overreaction. Tadashi had almost died, he'd woken her up in the middle of the night screaming, and now he'd disappeared without a word. He was suddenly glad that she'd found him, not wanting to even think about how she would react if he'd have gotten any further. He was flooded with shame, and bowed his head down low, not wanting to look at her in the eye.

'I thought you'd... I thought...' She took in a deep, shaky breath and continued, voice trembling slightly. 'I thought I'd find you in the bathroom again. Remember? 2 years ago? When Tadashi found you bleeding out in our own bathroom?' Hiro flinched, hating how close to tears she was. Hating himself for doing that to her.

'I- I'm sorry, alright? I wasn't thinking, I just wanted to see him. See if he's alright.' A lump was rising in his throat and he swiped away the tears that were prickling in his eyes. He looked up slightly to see her soften. She strode over to him and he wrapped his arms around her waist. She rested her chin on top of his head and sighed heavily.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to lash out at you. You just scared me.' He let go of her and she grabbed his shoulder with her non-broken arm. He straightened up slightly and looked into her eyes. 'I know you're scared, I am too. But you can't be pulling crap like that.' She paused slightly and let go of him. 'Do that again, and you'll land yourself in a hospital bed next to our idiot brother.' He laughed softly, eyeing the keys on the side again. She caught him looking and shook her head.

'Please? It's not that early, I want to see him!'

'No. Not right now. Hiro, your puppy dog eyes won't work on me this time.' He huffed slightly, crossing her arms. She acted as though she hadn't noticed and continued on nonetheless.

'We can't go just yet. First of all, you need a shower. We both do.' He nearly cried out in outrage, who cared how clean he was? Tadashi was lying alone in a hospital bed, hardly breathing! Surely there were bigger concerns?! He opened his mouth to argue but she stopped him before she even got a word out.

'You're covered in soot and dried blood, you're wearing yesterday's clothes and there's so much ash in your hair it looks like you have a crippling case of dandruff! No, we're BOTH going for a shower and changing into clean clothes, I'm packing a bag for Aunt Cass and we're having breakfast. You can't walk into hospital like that, you're practically a walking infection.'

He opened his mouth to retort, but shut it quickly. As much as he hated to admit it, she made a fair point. He groaned loudly as he made his way back across the living room, kicking his shoes off and sending them skidding across the floor. He stormed past her smug face and up the stairs to the bathroom.

'And for the sake of everyone who's gonna be around you today, brush your teeth! VOMITBREATH!'

He smirked in satisfaction as he heard a yelp of pain. That was one well aimed hairbrush.

An hour later, they were both sat around the kitchen table, demolishing a huge stack of toast that was in the middle of them. He had taken the quickest shower of his life, not wanting to waste another second of time that he could be spending with Tadashi. Rena had taken considerably longer with her new cast, and even longer getting dressed. Eventually, she had joined him at the kitchen table with a bag next to her packed with clothes and a toothbrush for Cass. Hiro had Tadashi's hat on the table next to him, he had grabbed it from his bedside table whilst getting dressed, there was no way he was going without it.

'Never realised how hungry I was.' Hiro said through a mouthful of toast, he had lost count of how many slices he'd had. Rena nodded in agreement as she reached for another slice. Hiro's anxiety was mounting, he never realised how scared he was to actually see his big brother until they were almost ready to go. His stomach was in knots, and he dropped his half eaten slice of toast onto his plate. He brushed the crumbs off his hands and stood up, brining his plate over to the sink. He debated about whether or not to wash it, but deciding instead to just drop it by the side of similarly dirty plates. Rena did the same, and grabbed the keys from where Hiro had left them on the side earlier on. Hiro gripped Tadashi's hat tightly as she turned to face him, keys twirling in her fingers.

'Ready to go?' She asked him.

He nodded, never being less ready for anything in his entire life. Rena reached over and wrenched the hat from out of his grip, she pulled it on over the top of his bird's nest. She smiled at him and he returned it nervously.

The car ride to the hospital was silent, except for the music softly playing from the stereo. It was slow and sad, matching the feeling that Hiro felt slowly growing in his head the closer they got to the hospital. He could feel the familiar iron fist of panic tighten around his chest and balled his fingers into fists. He slowly let out a shaky breath, knowing how close he was to a full blown panic attack. He knew he couldn't loose his cool now, not without Tadashi. Tadashi. He squeezed his eyes shut, his head pounding. He was terrified, not wanting to go anywhere near his brother yet simultaneously needing to be sat beside his bedside. He did not want to see him, burnt and without a leg, but he needed him. Needed him like he needed the oxygen he was desperately trying to gulp in. He had never realised just how heavily he relied on his older brother, although he would never admit that to Tadashi. The result of not growing up with parents - you valued your remaining family a hell of a lot more. He glanced over at his sister, she was concentrating on the road so hard it looked as though her eyeballs would pop out of her skull. He wanted to reassure her that it was alright, that they were not going to die just because the road was suddenly a lot busier. But he couldn't, couldn't even open his mouth. His stomach lurched dangerously as they drove on, and he decided against trying to speak to her. He stared out the window, trying to quash the fear that had seized him suddenly. He was so preoccupied, he hadn't noticed that they had pulled into the car park. Rena parked the car and he undid his seat belt clumsily. Shaking, his fingers reached out and clutched the door handle, it slipped out of his grasp and fell back onto his quivering knee. Suddenly, the door was wrenched open and cool air hit his sweaty face. He was faintly aware of his sister pulling him to his feet, but his legs turned to jelly and he hit the car and slid down onto the cold, hard floor. The car was cold against his back, and he sat there for a moment or two, not having the energy to pull himself to his feet. Luckily, he didn't have to for Rena was there, hoisting him up as best as she could with only one arm. He sat back into the passenger seat with a muffled thump as she bent down to look at him, eyes full of concern. For the fourth time in two days, he was having another panic attack. He was annoyed at himself for getting so worked up as he sat there, gasping for air pathetically. What was wrong with him? he hardly ever had panic attacks anymore, he couldn't remember the last time he had gotten one, let alone one as bad as he had had recently. He squeezed his eyes shut and his mind fogged over, leaving him wondering if he would die. Surely he would, he would sit there and gasp for breath until he had none left in him, until his still delicate lungs deflated and gave up on him. He was vaguely aware of Rena still sat in front of him, and let himself fall against her. She wrapped an arm around him and placed her other wand clumsily on his back. He could feel her cast pressing against him, and realised she was using her fingers to tap on his back gently. Tap. Tap. Tap. He focused his attention on that, using it to ground himself. He was alright. Tap. Tap. Tadashi was alright. Tap. Tap. Tap. Rena was alright. Tap. Tap. Tap. Aunt Cass was alright. Tap. Tap. Tap. He could feel the fog lifting slowly and continued to use the soft tapping to ground himself, breathing out slowly through his nose. Eventually, he could feel his hands beginning to steady and his head had stopped pounding. He lifted his head and tipped it back towards the ceiling of the car, taking a final deep breath before tipping his head forwards and facing his sister.

'Sorry.'

She smiled at him and tugged at his hand, pulling him to his feet once more. 'Don't apologise, it's alright. Are you sure you're ready to go in?'

'Yeah, I think so. Can't put it off forever.'

'Are you sure? We can wait here a little longer if you need to.'

'Yeah I'm sure,' he replied, blowing his fringe out of his face. She turned away and began to walk towards the hospital, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her round to face him. 'Thank you.' He wanted to say more, but found that he couldn't find the words. He knew she understood though, and he kept a tight hold onto her hand as they strode towards the formidable building. Together.

'Aww is that your son? He's so cute!' The rosey cheeked woman situationed on the front desk leaned forward and pinched Hiro's cheek. Rena quickly turned her burst of laughter into a hacking cough. He stared at the woman, annoyed. He didn't look that young, surely?

'Err, no. He's actually just my brother. There's only 3 years between us.' Rena wheezed, sides still shaking from laughter. The woman stared down at Hiro, horrified at her mistake.

'I'm awfully sorry Miss!'

'Don't worry about it.' Rena replied, grinning from ear to ear. Hiro narrowed his eyes at her, knowing he was going to be teased about this for a very long time.

'What you need then hun?'

'We're actually here to visit our brother, Tadashi Hamada.' Rena gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he returned it, grateful at the gesture.

'Oh you poor darlings.' The lady said, looking at them with pity, 'the kid they pulled out the fire is your brother is it? Not to worry though, I'm sure he'll make a speedy recovery!'

Hiro sighed, annoyed. He hated her optimism, and the patronising sugarness that was clear in her tone.

Rena cleared her throat awkwardly, not wanting to be rude. Though Hiro could tell she was just as ticked off as he was.

'Yep, that's our Tadashi!' She said, a little too happily. Her enthusiasm was clearly forced, but the lady didn't seem to catch onto this.

'Ok then darlings, he's in room 417. That's up in the lifts, press the button for the fourth floor, and then turn right. Keep walking down that corridor and then turn right again to get onto the ward. He's in the 17th room along, can't miss it. Need me to write it down, sugar plum?'

'Nope!' Rena said, annoyed. 'Thank you!' She pulled Hiro along with her as they made their way down the pristine corridor. As soon as she was out of sight, she made a very rude gesture to the woman's back. Hiro didn't dare think what Aunt Cass would say if she saw her doing that. He smiled weakly, and they marched towards towards the lifts. She punched the button on the wall and strode in as soon as it dinged, still tugging him along with her. Hiro watched the number slowly go up as they climbed the floors. He swallowed the lump in his throat nervously. Eventually, they reached the fourth floor and made their way swiftly down the corridors until they reached Tadashi's room. Rena knocked gently, and Hiro suddenly couldn't see anything for a blur of his Aunt Cass. She pulled them both into a tight hug, and was talking their ears off, not letting them get a word in edgeways. He was only half listening, too busy straining his neck to catch a glimpse of his brother. Finally, she let them go, gasping and rubbing their ribs. Rena placed the bag with the carefully folded pile of clothes inside into her Aunt's hand, and Aunt Cass scurried off to get changed, leaving the two of them alone outside Tadashi's room.

'Now or never.' Rena whispered, pushing the door open to the room as they stepped inside.


	7. Chapter 7

Rena took one look at her brother lying in the pitiful hospital bed and felt as though she had been winded. This was way, way worse than she'd imagined. He looked like a broken, sad old rag doll. Most of the skin she could see was covered in bandages, his hair was considerably shorter than it had been before the fire, and her blood ran cold at the idea of his hair being burnt away like that. His face was not bandaged but he looked as though he had been badly sunburnt, his face was a brilliant shade of red and the skin was peeling grossly. She took a step towards him gingerly, as though approaching a very dangerous animal. He was hooked up to 100 different machines, tubes going into him in more places then she had ever imagined. The slow, monotonous beep of his heartbeat on the monitor was the only thing that indicated that he was even alive. She wanted to turn and run away, the sight of her brother lying there was enough to sap every ounce of bravery out of her bearing. It was something so terrible that she could not tear her eyes away. She slowly edged closer, eyes focusing on the slow, subtle rise and fall of his chest. She sunk down to her knees as she approached the bed and gently brushed his cheek. Tiny flakes of skin showered down and she snatched her hand away quickly, not wanting to break him anymore. She moved her hand slowly up to his hair, running it through her fingers, as gently as she possibly could. Tears were running freely down her face but she neither noticed or cared. Her fingers moved down and touched the tube entering his nose. She hated it, never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine a tube breathing for him. Tadashi, the strongest, bravest person she knew, lying there looking so pathetic that it made her weep. In that moment, he didn't even look peaceful. He looked damaged beyond repair. It killed her that she couldn't fix it. Fix him. But he wasn't a machine. He wasn't something that could just be taken apart, broken parts replaced and fixed. He was Tadashi, no matter how damaged he was. She straightened up, sniffing. Sinking down into a hard plastic chair, she buried her face into her hands. This was a lot harder than she thought it would be. She deliberately fixed her eyes on a ceiling tile above her, determined not to look at the space where his right leg should be. She heard Hiro crying, and couldn't even muster the strength to go to him. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, determined to stop the tears from falling down her cheeks. She breathed out slowly before wiping her eyes with her hoodie sleeves. She looked blearily over at her youngest brother, he was knelt in the same position she just was, whispering to Tadashi. She tuned him out, knowing that whatever he was saying, he did not want her eavesdropping. She took Tadashi's bandaged hand in her own.

'Look.' She whispered quietly, holding up her own bandaged arm, 'twins!' She paused slightly before continuing. 'Please wake up Dash. We're all here, rooting for you. I love you more than anything, so don't leave us hanging for too long, alright?'

About an hour later, her phone was buzzing with a call from Honey Lemon. She gladly took the excuse to leave the room and went into the corridor, leaning against the wall as she clicked the small green icon displayed on her phone screen.

'Hey Honey.'

'Hey Squish, we've just pulled into the hospital. Any chance you could tell us whereabouts Tadashi's room is?'

Rena's heart missed a beat. They didn't know, she completely forgot to tell them. What sort of an awful friend just forgets to tell people something like that?

'...Squish? You there?'

'Yeah, yeah sorry. I, uh, need to tell you guys something first. I'll come meet you outside.'

'Oh, okay. See you in a minute.' Honey ended the call sounding anxious. Rena couldn't blame her.

Her friends stood looking at her expectantly, waiting for the news she was so scared to give to them. She had stalled as long as possible, taking time with the hugs and quick catch ups, pretending that everything was absolutely fine. For once, she cursed the fact that they were all geniuses as they had caught on surprisingly quickly. They were now all looking at her somewhat impatiently. She took a deep breath before launching into speech.

'When he ran into the fire like an idiot, he had only managed to get to the entrance hall before the building exploded. He would've gotten out, but a large beam had fallen and crushed the lower part of his body, which is why it took so long to pull him out.' Honey and Wasabi gasped, hands over their mouths in shock. Gogo had paled dramatically and even Fred had been horrified into silence. Rena was surprised with the fake tone of confidence that she showcased as she continued. 'They took him to the hospital and examined him, the results showing that he had suffered extreme nerve damage in his right leg due to the angle that the beam had fallen at. He-' her voice shook suddenly and she could feel tears in her eyes again. Damnit. She'd come so close. Honey placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and she continued in a voice significantly more shaken than before. 'He's in a medically induced coma. They don't know how long it will be before he wakes up. And they amputated his leg.' She said this in a garbled rush, before bursting into tears. To everyone's surprise, it was Gogo that had pulled her into a hug first. Rena hugged her back tightly, and was soon joined by the rest of the gang. When she stopped crying, she pulled away and noticed tell-tale signs of tears in Gogo's eyes. Honey was still weeping openly, and Wasabi was patting her back, tears making tracks down his own face. Fred's eyes weren't dry either. They stood outside for a few minutes more, not saying anything but just basking in the company of one another. After was felt like an age, Rena broke the silence by suggesting that they go up to Tadashi's room. They all nodded grimly, and followed down the corridor and up in the lift. No one said a word until she had her hand on the door handle.

'I'll warn you now, he doesn't look good. So uh, yeah. I get it if you don't wanna go in.' No one said anything to respond to this, so she took this as a signal to push the door open. No one said a word as they filed into the dingy room, stunned into silence. Aunt Cass jumped up and edged out of the way so they could get closer, but Hiro remained exactly where he was, curled into a small plastic chair, hand dangling off the edge and still holding Tadashi's hand. Rena doubted that he had even noticed that they had entered. She turned away, not wanting to see her friends cry over her brother again.

A few hours had passed before a doctor had come in, gently insisting that they leave and that visiting times were over. Hiro seemed to be the only person reluctant to leave, not wanting to leave Tadashi's side again. Rena felt the opposite, not wanting to stay around him for much longer. They managed to prise him away from Tadashi after much struggle. He crossed his arms sulkily and did not say a word to any of their friends as they said their farewells. Aunt Cass draped an arm over his shoulder and they walked back to the car together. Aunt Cass insisted that she drove, and Rena did not argue. She stretched out in the back seat comfortably, Hiro in the front. It was clear that Aunt Cass was trying to act as though nothing had even happened, and Rena was grateful for the attempted stab at normality.

'So... I was thinking that tonight we could have a movie night! What do you say? I can swing by the store on the way home and grab some popcorn.'

'Sure.' Said Rena enthusiastically, 'I don't see why not.'

Hiro scoffed at the suggestion and Cass deflated slightly. Rena felt a surge of anger aimed towards her younger brother. Why couldn't he just be nice? No one was forcing him to do anything, it was just a suggestion to take his mind off of things! She quickly changed the subject before she lashed out at him.

'Are you opening the cafe again tomorrow?'

'I don't want to, but I'm gonna have to. Those medical bills won't pay for themselves.' Cass replied, chewing her lip nervously.

'I'm sure Tadashi would understand.' Rena said gently, 'I'll help out, seeing as he isn't here.'

'Are you sure? I'm sure we'll be fine on our own, although I do have a new one in tomorrow..'

'Yeah, I'm sure.'

'Thank you sweetie.'

Rena noticed that Hiro had stayed quiet during this interaction, and wondered if he was going to say anything snarky. Thankfully, he did not. He just sat there and stared out the window moodily. He still hadn't said a word by the time they'd pulled up to the cafe, instead racing straight upstairs to his bedroom. Rena followed her Aunt back into the cafe and watched as she pulled a tray of doughnuts out from the display.

'Want one?' She shook her head and Cass shrugged before shoving one into her mouth. Rena walked over to her Aunt and sat on the counter, legs swinging gently.

'Are you alright?' Cass had put the doughnut down and sank down next to her. Extending her arm outwards, she sidled over to her niece and Rena lent into her, suddenly realising how tired she was.

'Yeah, I think so. Seeing him for the first time was a shock to the system, but yeah.'

Cass bit her lip, seemingly lost in thought. 'He's gonna pull through. He has to.'

'Yeah. Course he will. His stubborn ass isn't leaving Hiro just yet.'

Cass laughed gently. 'True. Tadashi without Hiro is like bread without butter.'

Rena nodded in agreement, not showing how that stung slightly. A few minutes passed before Cass dropped another bombshell. 'Callaghan died. His vigil is tomorrow.'

'Oh.' She had expected it, but that didn't stop the news feeling like a slap to the face. She was never as close to Callaghan as Tadashi was, he was obsessed with the guy. Still though, school wouldn't feel the same without him. Cass gave her a squeeze and they sat there in silence.

Rena pulled up outside the SFIT exhibition hall on Tadashi's moped. There was no need for the car, Hiro flat out refused to go and Cass was tied down to the cafe. She sat in the car park for a second, every bone in her body screamed at her to bolt. But she couldn't. She wasn't here for herself, not really. She was here for Tadashi, he would be gutted to have missed it and the least she could do was say goodbye for him. She had to force one foot in front of the other, the urge to run away from the scene growing stronger the closer she got to the burnt hall. Taking in a sharp breath, she neared the bushes in which her and Hiro had huddled, hacking their lungs up. Her eyes stung and she swiped at them, annoyed. She tore her eyes away from the bushes and quietly joined the back of the tiny crowd that had gathered around the foot of the steps. No one seemed to have noticed that she'd arrived, and she was thankful because that way no one could see her trembling. The night was warm and peaceful, the small lights from the candles flickered in the early evening darkness. Small murmurings of the students gathered carried across the air, and she could hear the faint sounds of the river running behind them. A few people were sniffling, but apart from that the atmosphere was surprisingly pleasant, much like the man they were mourning. Under any other circumstance, Rena would have enjoyed it immensely. Candles were being passed around, and she took one from a woman with a kind face. It was strange, but she felt at peace there, candle in hand. She didn't know what she was so worried about.

As the time went on, speeches were made and plenty of tears were shed. Rena felt connected to all these people around her, despite not knowing who they were and whether or not she even knew them to begin with. It occurred to her at one point that she should make a speech - Tadashi would have wanted her to. No, would want her to. He was still alive, Callaghan wasn't. Her brain was slowing down, from the lack of sleep or something else she didn't know. She stepped forward as a girl she recognised from her advanced chemistry class finished her speech to a round of quiet applause. She looked at the small crowd and was met with many reassuring smiles. Her heart wasn't pounding as much as she'd expected, and she straightened up as she began her speech. She hadn't prepared for it, but somehow knew exactly what she wanted to say without even thinking about it.

'My name is Rena Hamada, and I am a student here at SFIT. I was taught by Professor Callaghan my first 2 years of being here, and I enjoyed every minute of his lessons. He was captivating, kind, and had a way about him that made you believe you could achieve anything. I will always remember him as a person who always saw the best in others, who wouldn't give up on anyone, despite what may happen. However, I'm mainly here in behalf of my brother Tadashi. He was injured in the fire, and cannot be here today. He ran in to try and save Professor Callaghan, which just goes to show how special Robert Callaghan truly was. He was a true inspiration to Tadashi, and he wouldn't be where he was today without the aid of Callaghan. Us SFIT students will go on to change the world, and we will do this because of Professor Callaghan. He changed lives, and he will live on in everything we do. Everything we invent, every decision we make, and every step we take from here on out. Thank you, Professor Callaghan. We owe you a lot.'

She wanted to say more, but knew she didn't need to. She stepped down to a gentle scattering of applause, and was quickly replaced with a girl bearing a guitar. She began singing gently, and it was a few seconds before someone joined in. It was infectious, soon everyone was humming or singing along gently to the words of the song. Wonderwall. If you knew Callaghan, you knew Oasis was his favourite. Rena felt as though nothing could ruin the atmosphere they'd created. That was, until she saw Alistair Krei at the side of the crowd. She narrowed her eyes at him and crossed her arms, annoyed. What the hell was he doing here? Callaghan and Krei despised one another.

When the song had finished, Krei practically shoved the poor guitar girl aside. He opened his stupid mouth and started speaking, but Rena wasn't listening to a word he was saying. She was angry, and thoroughly confused. She stared at him coldly until he'd finished his extremely short speech. Krei's beady eyes scanned the crowd and landed on her, and he strode towards her confidently.

'Why hello! Rowan was it?' He boomed at her.

'No.' She said icily through gritted teeth. 'Rena.'

'Ah yes that's right, Rain. Of course.' He took a hold of her elbow and she snatched it away. His eyes narrowed and his voice was considerably less warm when he spoke next. 'Let's walk shall we?'

She would've said no, but everyone was staring at them and she didn't want to look rude in front of all these people. Besides, she was itching to see what Krei wanted anyway. She nodded curtly, and followed him down the path to the bridge. He stopped, staring out at the water and she peered at him suspiciously.

'You know... it's pretty rude to just drag someone away from a vigil and not say why.'

'Patience is a virtue. I'm happy to see you again, things were a little, ah, awkward last time we met, wouldn't you say?'

'You mean when you tried to steal my little brother's invention? Yeah I'd say so.'

'How close was your brother Zero to Professor Callaghan?'

'Zero? You mean HIRO? I mean, they weren't particularly close, they'd only met twice.'

'Hmm interesting. How is your brother? Still inventing?'

'Uhh not at the minute, he's preoccupied. And he- wait a minute. What do you really want?'

Krei looked at her greedily. 'Is he still working on the microbots? I will reconsider my offer to him, I am willing to pay a lot of money for them, especially if he has developed them further.'

'They were destroyed in the fire.' She responded flatly, and Krei deflated dramatically. 'And there's no 'reconsidering' - he refused your offer. And I'm glad he did, I'm glad my brother isn't being represented by a greedy, self-obsessed idiot.' With that, she turned on her heel and flounced away, resisiting the strong urge to spit at him.

'I'm not self-obsessed!' He called after her, 'it's business my dear! You're too young to understand!'

The days slowly melted into weeks, before Rena knew it, it had been 3 weeks since the fire and she had still not been able to face visiting Tadashi. The very thought made her head spin and stomach feel queasy. Instead, she opted to make herself seem as busy as possible so that she wouldn't have time to visit him - whether that was working in the cafe tirelessly, upgrading Baymax for Tadashi or simply sleeping away her feelings. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't rid herself of the burning guilt that she faced for not seeing her older brother. She hated herself for it, knowing full well that if the tables were turned he'd be visiting her everyday. But she simply could not bring herself to see his missing leg and burnt skin again. Not yet, anyway. She only saw Hiro at mealtimes, but she didn't fail to notice the way his eyes had slowly began to look more dead and how he barely said two words to anyone anymore. But whenever she tried to talk to him, he would quite literally run away from her. The only time he was ever away from the hospital was when he was forced out, and she knew that he would live there if he could. Aunt Cass had remained as warm, familiar and loving as ever and she could not be more grateful to her. She was the glue holding their little family together, even though Rena could hear her sobbing late at night when she thought her niece and nephew were asleep. She didn't sleep much nowadays, fearing the monsters that emerged when she did. Instead, she would lie in bed and stare at the ceiling, brain moving at 100 miles an hour. No matter what she did, she couldn't stop it.

Dinner that night was a somber occasion. They were having chicken and rice, and no one really said anything as they ate. Usually, they would sit around their small table and talk about anything and everything, things such as how their days were and what happened at school and in the cafe, what they were working on - everything. Since the fire though, their normal routine had halted, and dinner was one of the things that had changed the most. Rena gently placed her fork down next to her plate and turned to her brother.

'So... hows Tadashi?'

For a second she didn't think he'd heard her, it was a few seconds before he mumbled 'The same.'

'Ah.. okay.'

The rest of the meal continued in silence. It was Hiro's turn to do the dishes, and when he went into the kitchen Rena followed him. She looked at him as he ran the water into the bowl, she was still holding her own plate and he hadn't offered to take it off her. She couldn't help but feel as though he was avoiding her eyes.

'You know, I was thinking that tomorrow we could do something together. It's been so long since we've hung out properly, maybe we could go to the movies, or that new science exhibit at the museum, what do you say?' She looked at him hopefully, but to her surprise, when he turned to face her his eyes were full of fury. 'Hiro, are you alright? I-'

'Go to the movies? Go to the movies? Are you alright in the head? Tadashi is lying in a hospital bed, and you want me to go to the MOVIES?' His voice shook and she stared at him in disbelief. 'I have been there, every single day. Everyday I've sat by his bedside, waiting for him to wake up, being there for him. AND WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?' He was shouting now. 'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, EH BIG SIS? YOU'VE BEEN HERE! YOU HAVEN'T VISITED HIM IN WEEKS! DO YOU EVEN CARE ABOUT HIM? HOW COULD YOU NOT EVEN GO AND VISIT HIM? HOW COULD YOU BE THAT INCONSIDERATE, THAT CRUEL? YOU KNOW FULL WELL THAT IF YOU WERE LYING THERE, HE WOULD BE THERE EVERYDAY, BY YOUR BEDSIDE! ACTUALLY I WISH IT WERE YOU LYING THERE INSTEAD OF HIM!'

The plate Rena was holding slipped out of her grip and smashed on the floor. She hadn't even realised, she stared at Hiro in disbelief and he clapped his hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

'How could you?' She whispered angrily.

'I didn't mean it, I-' Hiro stammered.

Tears pricking in her eyes, she turned and left the room, not wanting to hear another word that he had to say. She grabbed her helmet from its hook in the hallway and the keys to Tadashi's moped. Slamming the door shut, she rammed the helmet onto her head and shoved the keys hard into the moped parked outside. She set off down the street, trying to get away from the cafe so her Aunt and brother wouldn't see her cry.


	8. Chapter 8

Hiro's eyes slid open the next morning. He groaned into his pillow, head pounding. He sat up blearily and swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He eyes moved automatically towards Tadashi's side of the room, as though he was expecting him to emerge from behind the screen that separated their two halves of the room. He shook his head resolutely and pulled on a t-shirt that was lying on the floor. He continued to get dressed quickly and silently, before slinging Tadashi's hat atop his mop of messy hair and heading downstairs.

'Morning.' Cass greeted him with uncharacteristic coolness, and he didn't blame her. After his sister had run out last night, he had been shouted at for a very long time. The mere memory of the incident was enough to make him burn with shame. He didn't know what had gotten into him. Truth be told, he rather fancied a day out somewhere that wasn't his brother's bedside. But he'd never admit that, he needed to be by Tadashi's side when he woke up, leaving him was not an option that he would ever allow himself to take.

'Morning Aunt Cass.' He sat down at the table as she placed a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of him. 'Thanks.' He picked up his fork and began to attack his food when he realised that his sister wasn't there. Every morning, she would sit opposite him, feet on the table and loudly read the newspaper to Aunt Cass. It annoyed him a lot, but he never said anything. Now that she wasn't there, the atmosphere was off-kilter.

'Where is Rena?' He asked inquisitively, trying to keep his voice casual to disguise the fact he was terrified his sister would never want to speak to him again.

'I don't know.' Aunt Cass said thickly, she sounded as though she'd been crying.

'What?' He said dumbly, 'what do you mean?'

'I mean I don't know where she is Hiro!' Cass snapped. Hiro flinched, but she didn't seem to notice. 'If you hadn't have gone round saying all those AWFUL things to her then maybe you'd know where she is! I suggest you go looking for her, and you can apologise for what you said. Then maybe, we can have a somewhat normal breakfast!'

He stood up, suddenly no longer hungry. He strode towards Cass and flung his arms around her, suffocating her in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed back. Hiro didn't let go - he could feel her hot tears dripping onto his head.

'I'm sorry.' He whimpered into her chest.

Half an hour later, Hiro jumped out of the bus that had just pulled up outside the hospital. He exhaled slowly and jammed his hands deep into his hoodie pockets, bending his head down low. He watched his trainers as he began the familiar walk to Tadashi's room. Finally, he reached his brother's small room and opened the door. He looked up at last and fell backwards, crashing into the wall behind him.

'I-... how.. what?!' He spluttered.

Rena was stood on a chair, adjusting fairy lights that she'd placed above his bed. She freezed, her good hand poised in the air.

'Hi.' She said flatly.

Hiro gaped at the room. She'd taken Tadashi's posters and stuck them to the bare walls, fairy lights were hanging from the ceiling in more places than just above his bed. On his bedside table, there was a fat stack of Tadashi's favourite books and three framed photos - one of the three Hamada siblings with their parents, looking a hell of a lot younger, the selfie Honey had taken right before his showcase and a photo of Aunt Cass with her arms around Hiro and Rena, taken about a year ago in one of the city's parks. As well as this, Tadashi's battered old guitar was leaning in the corner of the room. The room felt more like Tadashi now, not at all the clinical hell-hole he'd been stewing in for the past 3 weeks. Why hadn't he thought to do this earlier? Rena stepped down from the chair, determinedly avoiding his gaze, as though afraid that he would shout at her again. Hiro was flooded with shame again as he looked at her.

'I'll take it down if you hate it.' She said, incorrectly interpreting his almost tearful gaze. 'I just wanted it to feel more like home for him.'

'It's great. It- it's perfect. He'll love it.' He shuffled his feet awkwardly. 'Listen, I'm sorry. I genuinely don't know what came over me. I guess being here all the time kinda sucks the life out of you a bit. I didn't mean it, and I hope you can forgive me for what I said. I miss you, we haven't really been around one another in weeks and I guess I was feeling a bit...haywire.' His mumbled apology came out in a rush, he was so desperate to say it to her.

Rena didn't say a word and slilently slunk down into a chair, hands over her face. She emerged after a minute or two and looked at Hiro - in the eyes this time.

'I was scared, I am scared. Seeing Tadashi like this literally makes my stomach turn. I never in a million years imagined him to be so weak and helpless, because it's Tadashi. He's always been there, and I guess seeing him there really made me realise that he's not unbreakable, he's as fragile as the rest of us. As weird as that sounds, I just wasn't ready to face it. I wasn't ready to face the fact that I may suddenly become the oldest, that he would leave us like that. I couldn't do it, couldn't face it. I know, it's pathetic, it's weak and there's no excuse. I love him, and I should be there for him. ESPECIALLY when he's this weak and vulnerable.' She looked up at Hiro, eyes sparkling with tears. 'I understand your anger, I do. It was unfair of me to leave you to do this by yourself. And you were right, Tadashi would never do the same.' She sniffed sadly, 'guess I'm just not cut out for being the eldest, eh?' She buried her face in her hands once more and cried. Hiro blanched and pulled up a chair, slinging his arm around her like she had done for him so many times before.

'No, it doesn't make you weak. I know what you mean, and I get it. I really do. But you're a great sister and a great person Rena, and Tadashi would be proud of you. You've helped Aunt Cass run the cafe, which is a hell of a lot more than what I've been doing. And it's okay, because Tadashi is going to wake up and life will go back to normal, it may take a while but it will happen.' He wasn't doing much, merely repeating the empty words that she had given him herself all those weeks ago. Eventually she emerged, wiping her eyes on her right sleeve. He rested his head on her shoulder, and took a hold of her hand as they watched the steady rise and fall of their older brothers chest, silently praying to a God neither of them believed in.

'Ew, this has not been tuned in ages.' Hiro looked over to where Rena was sitting, cross-legged in the corner of the room. She was holding Tadashi's guitar and wincing at the horrible sound it made when she strummed it. She twiddled with the tuners, tuning the guitar by ear. He watched her with interest.

'I didn't know you played the guitar.'

'Eh, I can't play it that well. I picked it up when he first got this one.'

'He hasn't played in ages - I forgot he had it.'

'Yeah I know, but he's just been busy I guess. Ah! There we are.' She strummed it again and nodded in satisfaction. 'it's not perfect, but oh well.' She began playing, and it took a second for Hiro's ears to register the song.

'Ed Sheeran? Seriously?' He grinned at her.

'Hey, Ed Sheeran had some bangers back in the day! Plus, it's one of the only songs I can play.'

She began singing softly.

I'm gonna pick up the pieces  
And build a Lego house  
When things go wrong we can knock it down  
My three words have two meanings  
There's one thing on my mind, it's all for you  
And it's dark in a cold December  
But I've got ya to keep me warm  
And if you're broken I'll mend ya  
And I keep you sheltered from the storm  
That's raging on now  
I'm out of touch, I'm out of love  
I'll pick you up when you're getting down  
And out of all these things I've done  
I think I love you better now  
I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind  
I'll do it all for you in time  
And out of all these things I've done  
I think I love you better now, now  
I'm gonna paint you by numbers and color you in  
If things go right we can frame it  
And put you on a wall  
And it's so hard to say it but I've been here before  
Now I'll surrender up my heart and swap it for yours  
I'm out of touch, I'm out of love  
I'll pick you up when you're getting down  
And out of all these things I've done  
I think I love you better now  
I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind  
I'll do it all for you in time  
And out of all these things I've done  
I think I love you better now  
Don't hold me down  
I think my braces are breaking  
And it's more than I can take  
And it's dark in a cold December  
But I've got ya to keep me warm  
If you're broken I will mend ya  
And I keep you sheltered from the storm  
That's raging on now  
I'm out of touch, I'm out of love  
I'll pick you up when you're getting down  
And out of all these things I've done  
I think I love you better now  
I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind  
I'll do it all for you in time  
And out of all these things I've done  
I think I love you better now  
I'm out of touch, I'm out of love  
I'll pick you up when you're getting down  
And out of all these things I've done  
I will love you better now

They finished softly together. Their voices blended weirdly well together. Rena gently put the guitar on the floor and smiled up at him on his chair.

'Dad's favourite song. I remember when it'd come on the radio and we'd all dance around the kitchen. He would pick you up and spin you around, and you'd laugh your head off. Of course, we didn't really understand what the song was about back then, Tadashi and I. We'd just enjoy dancing with them - even to a song as depressing and slow as that.'

Hiro blinked. 'You've never told me that.'

'Yeah it was something I kinda forgot about.' She shrugged and stood up, stretching. Hiro watched her eyes wander over to Tadashi's sleeping form and watch him for a second before she settled down in a chair on the opposite side of the bed, hugging her knees to her chest. 'He looks better.'

Hiro nodded, 'yeah I guess.' His face was no longer as burnt, just tanned. Most of the bandages had come off, leaving the healed skin looking new, if not slightly more red. But the space where his leg should be remained as sickeningly empty as ever. He swallowed thickly and tore his eyes away. They both remained silent for a few minutes, stewing in their own thoughts. Eventually, Rena stood up and pulled her long hair into a rough ponytail. She extended a hand towards Hiro, beckoning him over to where she stood by the door.

'Come on, let's get out of here.' Hiro hesitated and she quickly added 'not for long, I promise. Just a couple of hours, let's escape the city. It's claustrophobic and I hate it, I want to just get out for a few hours and I know you do too. Please?'

He sighed heavily, 'okay.'

Rena's face split into a wide grin as she pulled him to his feet. She rustled around in the box that she had put all Tadashi's possessions in and pulled out his helmet, tossing it to him. She tucked her own helmet under her arm and he followed her out of the room.

'We're going on the moped? Okay, first of all, how do you drive that with one arm? And secondly, how did you manage to get that massive box of crap over here?'

'Sheer determination and talent.' She said as they got into the lift. 'Oh yeah, and a massive pile of bungee cords.' When she said this, she pulled out a huge tangle of them from her pocket. Hiro shook his head in disbelief. They were nearing the reception when she muttered 'swipe a sharpie for me. We'll bring it back and I only have one arm at the minute.'

'What? No?'

'Fine I'll do it myself!' She thrust her helmet into Hiro's arm and nonchalantly sauntered over to the main desk. Quick as a flash, she'd reached over to the pot of pens and grabbed a couple of permanent markers. She turned back to Hiro and stuck her tongue out, and he ran to catch up with her, shaking his head in disbelief.

'You gonna tell me what just possessed you to turn into a thief?'

'I could, but it's more fun to make you guess.'

He rolled his eyes at her. Honestly.

'Why are we here then? This looks so boring!'

They'd pulled over to a tiny car park, the only other people there were a couple in their sixties, walking a yapping dog down a gravel path. He jumped off the moped and handed his helmet to his sister, who locked it in the tiny trunk on the back of the vehicle. They were surrounded by green hills and countryside, and Hiro took a second to appreciate how clean and crisp the air was as he took a big gulp.

'Thought we'd go for a walk.'

'A walk? Are you actually kidding me? That's so boring!' He groaned, kicking a stone on the ground.

Rena rolled her eyes at him. 'You are such a baby. I promise it'll be good, okay?' She set off walking down a a trail, heading in the opposite direction to the older couple. Hiro followed somewhat reluctantly. They walked down a rough stone path, heading downhill. Hiro was in awe of the surroundings, appreciating the views of the large rolling hills around him. The weather was warm and Hiro pulled off his hoodie and tied it securely around his waist. They walked on for a while, until he could see a lake looming into view.

'Wow.' It wasn't at all like the sea that surrounded San Fransokyo, which was brown and grimy. The water was a cool blue colour, and sparkled in the sunlight. It looked a hell of a lot more refreshing than the water he'd been used to splashing in when he was younger, and his sweating face ached to plunge into its depths. The surface was so still that it looked like glass. He picked up his pace as they edged nearer to the lake. They reached the bottom of the hill and Rena kicked off her shoes as she settled down on the grass by the water's edge. Hiro copied, sitting cross-legged beside her.

'This is a lake nicked 'the lake of prayers' or 'the lake of wishes' by the locals.'

'Why?'

Rena pointed towards the edge of the lake and Hiro'e eyes followed. 'Go into the lake and pick out a handful of stones.'

He didn't need telling twice, he scrambled to his feet and ran to the water. He dipped his foot in carefully, but the water was cool enough to wade into, so he did. He carefully edged further into the lake, slipping and sliding on the stones beneath him. When he was about knee deep and the water was beginning to touch his shorts, he scooped up an armful of stones and held them close to his chest. He went back to his sister's side and dropped them by her feet. She picked one up and closely examined it.

'Look.' She said, holding it out to him. He took it from her outstretched arm and noticed that there was words scribbled onto the smooth surface.

I wish for my Dad to beat his cancer. - Graham.

He picked up another one.

Sally, I really hope that you pass your driving test this week. I believe in you.

'Oh.' He breathed out softly. All the rocks were like that, inscribed with various messages. They ranged from things such as wishing for someone to pass their maths test to hoping for recovery from all kinds of illnesses. For the next half an hour, they poured over the rocks that had been thrown into the lake, reading the messages that had been written on them. When they'd finished their third pile of stones, Rena tapped his elbow and handed him a red sharpie.

'It's an old folk tale, if you write something onto a rock and throw it into a lake, your wish will be answered. People have been coming here for decades to get their wishes granted.'

'How did you find out about this place?'

She shrugged, 'Honey told me about it. I've been a couple of times, not to throw the rocks in but just to chill. But I thought we could do one each for Tadashi, what do you think?'

Hiro nodded feverishly. He stood, and Rena stuck her arm out. He pulled her up and she dusted herself off.

'Right. Now to get a stone.' She said, looking around. It didn't take them very long to find two fairly big stones. They sat back on the grass with their stones and Hiro chewed the end of his pen thoughtfully. Huh, he had no idea what to write. He looked out over the water, completely stumped. He had a lot of words, but couldn't get any out and onto the stone. Rena was bent over her stone, scribbling words that he could not see for her hair was hanging in front of her, making a curtain between them. He exhaled slowly and wrote the first thing he thought of.

Tadashi. I love you, please wake up soon. We need you to boss us around. Nothing is the same without you. Please.

He stroked the stone's surface, before standing up and hurling it into the lake as hard as he could. It met the middle with a loud splash, sending ripples across the smooth surface of the water. It wasn't exactly poetry, but it was enough. Rena stood and threw hers in after his, it didn't reach quite as far as his did though. She didn't ask what he had written, and he didn't ask her. Some things didn't need to be said aloud.

He edged over to his sister and she put an arm around him as they stared out over the water. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, basking in the sunlight. Yeah, he liked it here. It was peaceful, the complete opposite to the noise and chaos of the city. It was this moment that he truly knew, in his heart, that it was going to be alright.


	9. Chapter 9

Four days later, Rena was back by Tadashi's bedside with Hiro. He was sleeping in his chair, and Rena was playing a pointless flash game on her phone, bored out of her mind. For a second she debated waking Hiro, but decided it was best to let him sleep. Neither of them slept that often anymore, so she let him take advantage of the few minutes of sleep that he was able to grab. Actually, she was pretty tired herself, come to think of it. She curled up in the chair in an attempt to make herself as comfortable as possible. She sleepily traced the side of Tadashi's snoozing face, almost absent-mindedly. Her eyes were just slipping shut when she noticed something that made her sit bolt upright, almost slipping off the chair entirely. All thoughts of sleep long forgotten, she stared unblinkingly at Tadashi's hand. No, it couldn't have been. She was just tired. She sighed slowly, rubbing her eyes. However, she didn't feel as tired anymore. Her eyes stayed fixed on the index finger of Tadashi's left hand. Then it happened again.

It twitched.

She threw herself onto her knees, barely breathing. Taking a hold of his hand in hers, she leaned forward and brushed his hair out of his eyes.

'Dash?' She murmured gently, 'Dash can you hear me?'

As she said this, he stirred slightly, groaning so softly that she barely heard it above the machines. Her heart was hammering in her throat and her breathing was becoming more and more rapid. She could scarcely believe if - after almost a month of waiting for her big brother to wake up -

Tadashi's eyes flickered open.

'Hey.' He croaked softly, weakly.

She clamped her hand over her mouth to muffle the scream that rose in her throat.

'Holy shit. HOLY SHIT!'

'Language.' Tadashi scolded softly. She stared at him in disbelief before his face broke into a smile. She was already smiling, she felt as though her face was going to split into two.

'I can't believe it. I can't believe you're alive. I- Wow. Are you hurting?'

'No, nowhere in particular.' He straightened up slightly, wincing as his back cracked loudly. His face split into a grin when he saw Hiro.

'Don't wake him yet.' Rena said, 'I don't want him to see this.'

'Wha-?'

She punched him, hard. Tadashi yelped and grabbed his arm, wincing in pain and the surprise attack.

'What were you thinking, you fucking idiot?!' She whisper-yelled at her older brother, happiness being replaced by anger. 'Running into a fire like that? How could you, how could you leave us there? You promised you'd take care of him, you promised! You promised you'd always be there, that you'd never leave us!' Her voice cracked and she swiped the tears away that were rapidly forming in her eyes. 'You could have been killed! And yet, knowing this, you ran into a fire with no thought to what was gonna happen to the people you left behind! He cried himself to sleep every. Single. Night.' She pointed at Hiro, who was still snoring soundly. 'It got bad Dash. Really bad. I-...I-'

But she couldn't finish, a lump had risen in her throat and she sank to her knees. She looked Tadashi in the eye, who looked positively scandalised at the shocking turn of events.

'Promise me,' she whispered to him, her eyes meeting his, 'you'll never do that again.'

He opened his mouth and she shook her head. 'I don't want an apology. I want you to promise that you'll never be such a massive bonehead ever again, and that you won't leave us like that. I don't need an apology, I need you to stick around, alright?'

He looked at her in the eye and whispered 'I promise.'

She nodded and for a second just stood there, awkwardly looking at him.

'Sorry. You scared me.'

He shook his head, grinning. He stretched his arms out and hugged her, tight. Rena sighed into his shoulder, happy at last. She pulled away from him and pulled the chair closer to the bed. She looked up at Tadashi, awake and it really hit her.

'Oh god, I'd best call Aunt Cass, and Honey, Wasabi, Gogo, Fred, and we'd best wake Hiro and-...' She trailed off as she glanced again at Tadashi. His face had drained of colour and there were tears prickling in his eyes. She sprang to her feet, panicked.

'What is it? Are you hurt? Do I need to call a doctor? 'Dashi?' She chanced a glance over at Hiro, still out like a light. She didn't want to wake him if Tadashi was gonna be dragged away by a team of medics.

He shook his head, as though in disbelief. He threw the covers back and she suddenly understood. He stared at the space where his leg should be and his face crumpled. He buried his face in his hands and started sobbing, his shoulders shaking. She stood rooted to the floor for a second, she hadn't seen Tadashi cry like that in a long time. She stepped towards the bed, gently pulling back the covers before gingerly sitting next to him on the bed. She raised her arm and he sunk into her. She clamped her mouth together to stop her from crying herself. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly.

'I know.' She whispered gently. 'I know.' She wanted to offer him more words, but none would come. Somehow though, she knew that being there was almost enough. Almost

They stayed like that for a while, only moving when his eyes were dry and his hands had stopped shaking.

'Hiro's already started planning on a badass new prosthetic, you know. And I've already updated Baymax with further medical assistance for amputees, so he'll be able to help. It's gonna be alright.'

He nodded, taking in a deep breath. He slid the thickest book out of the pile on his bedside table, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. He took it in his hand and extended his arm out towards his brother. There was a loud THUNK noise as the book made contact with his arm, and Hiro yelped, suddenly wide awake.

'OW! What was that for? You-' he looked up and stopped suddenly. His eyes widened and he ran a hand through his hair slowly.

'Sup.' Said Tadashi, grinning hugely. Before he could get another word out, Hiro sprang forward and launched himself at his older brother. The latter yelped as Hiro hugged him tightly, accidentally elbowing him as he did so. Rena watched, grinning. As she did so, she noticed that tadashi's huge smile did not quite reach his eyes. She shot him a concerned look and he shook his head shortly. Not now.

Hiro pulled away from Tadashi after a couple of minutes, and beamed hugely.

'Oi, give my my hat back!' Tadashi teased, before reaching it over and yanking it off of Hiro's head.

'Who says it's yours? Finders keepers!' Hiro retorted, stealing it back.

'OI! Respect your elders!'

Rena shook her head, exasperated. At least things were back to normal.

'Hey, I hate to break up this happy reunion, but we'd best be calling Aunt Cass and tell her the AWFUL news that someone's finally decided to wake up.' She pulled out her phone as she said this, dialling Aunt Cass's number and putting the phone on speaker. She thrust the phone to Tadashi who took it and held it close to his mouth. It rang twice before Cass picked up.

'Hey, what's up? Everything alright?'

'Hey Aunt Cass.' Tadashi said simply.

There was a scream and the sound of something smashing. 'TADASHI?'

A week and a half later, Tadashi had been cleared by his doctors to go home. At first, he was given a wheelchair but decided that he hated it after using it for half an hour. After much debate, he'd finally settled on a pair of crutches supplied by the hospital. Hiro hadn't started work on his prosthetic yet, insisting that he wanted Tadashi to weigh in on how it was gonna be made. They'd agreed to start working on it when Tadashi got home.

Cass pulled into the cafe on the evening that he was cleared, positively buzzing. They were having a party to welcome him home, and planning it had kept her preoccupied for the last three days straight. It wasn't going to be a particularly large gathering, just their small family and Tadashi's friends. She helped him out of the car carefully, finally leaving him alone to get to the cafe after he'd insisted that he was fine and didn't need her help. Admittedly, he was still rather slow on his feet but he could manage it on his own, he did not need the constant help from those around him.

Rena was a little ahead of Tadashi in the short walk to the cafe. She was chatting animatedly to her friends about a new album that had just been released. They reached the cafe, where they all made a beeline to the upstairs. She followed them happily, already smelling the delicious food that her Aunt Cass had cooked up. She was halfway up the stairs when she noticed that Tadashi had not followed her up. She turned and saw him at the bottom, awkwardly trying to figure out how to get up the first step. She thundered back down the stairs and took one of his crutches from him; tucking it under her arm and grabbing him by the waist with her other. Her cast had been taken off a few days earlier, and she was suddenly extremely grateful for the lucky coincidence. Tadashi put his arm hesitantly around her shoulder.

'I know you don't like being helped but we're gonna get through this together, alright?'

He nodded. 'Uhh, how are we gonna do this?'

'I don't know.'

They looked at each other and burst out laughing despite themselves.

'OK, OK. I think, if I step up one, I can kinda haul you up at the same time as you hopping up one? Hang on.'

She placed the crutch she was holding gently at the foot of the stairs and grabbed onto the banister. 'I'll come back down for it when we're up there. And that's where it's gonna go by the way, if you misbehave.'

Tadashi snorted. 'Right let's do this already - I'm starving.'

It took them a surprisingly short amount of time. Rena was glad when they got to the top, she was out of breath from pulling Tadashi up the stairs. They sat at the top and high-fived in victory. Rena ran back down and threw him his crutch. Tadashi pulled himself up and they made their way over to the table.

'Sorry.' Tadashi said, grimacing slightly as they all looked at him in sympathy.

'Nothing to worry about sweetie!' Said Aunt Cass, pulling up a chair for him, 'nothing at all!'

Rena sat down opposite Tadashi and grabbed the plate of chicken wings. She tucked in and everyone quickly followed her lead. After a few minutes, the air was full of the buzz of conversation, and it was like nothing had ever happened in the first place.

Rena punched the air triumphantly. 'HA! Take that!'

Hiro scoffed and threw the wii remote to Fred, who had eagerly stretched his hand out for it.

'You're going DOWN!' He stood and strode over to where Rena was standing by the TV. 'Not to brag, but I'm somewhat of a master at this game.'

'Nah uh.' Tadashi said, grinning. 'She is the undefeated champion at Mario Kart. I suppose she has to be good at something, really.' He ducked as a cushion went spinning towards his face. 'Missed me.'

'Whatever.' She said, rolling her eyes. She turned back to the screen for the countdown, remembering to hold down the button in order to get a boost at the beginning. They set off, she was already winning. She fired a green shell behind her, and it hit Fred as he zoomed up behind her. Smirking, she drifted round the corner and avoided a banana that he had fired in front of her. For the next couple of minutes, she drifted and dodged her way around the track until -

'NOOOOOOO!'

'Undefeated champion.' She said, smirking at Fred's dismayed face.

'Told you.' Said Tadashi, laughing from where he was sat on the sofa.

'Yeah yeah whatever.' Fred grumbled, sitting back down where he was on the floor.

'Anyone else up for a game?' Asked Rena, grinning. Everyone shook their heads and she turned off the TV, laughing.

'Everyone get in!' Exclaimed Honey-lemon, extending her phone out. They all gathered around and she snapped a photo. Rena sat back down, extending her legs out in front of her and leaning back against the sofa. She had missed this.

'I can't believe classes start in a week.' Said Hiro suddenly.

'Well you'd better believe it buddy!' Tadashi replied, reaching over and ruffling his hair, making it stand up even more than it already was.

'You better hadn't do that at school!' He grumbled, failing to flatten down his angry mop.

'Why?' Rena teased, 'does big man Hiro need to look as fit as possible to get all the birds?'

'I'm gonna pretend that you didn't say that.' Hiro retorted as everyone fell about laughing.

'Everyone's at least 5 years older than him, I don't think he needs to worry about that. He's not cool enough to be nonced on.' Gogo said snarkily, grinning at his outrage.

'OK, if everyone could stop bullying me now!' Hiro exclaimed, but he was laughing.

'It's not bullying!' Said Tadashi in mock outrage, 'it's... it's...'

'Character building!' Rena filled in for him, nodding solemnly. Hiro snorted and she seized his wrist.

'We just want what's best for you!' She pouted, staring at his eyes, as intense as she could possibly make it.

Hiro snorted. 'Now you sound like Tadashi trying to convince me to go to nerd school.'

'Watch what you're calling that school!' Said Wasabi from the corner, 'remember you go there now, nerd.'

Hiro scowled, 'bold of you to assume that I'll ever sign up for any classes now!'

'Oh yes you will!' Tadashi said, throwing a pillow hard at his head. It missed and smacked Gogo on the arm, who seized it and launched it as hard as she could back at Tadashi. It hit him square in the face, because it was Gogo and it was never gonna miss. Rena howled with laughter, the rest of them quickly joining in. It was then that Fred stood, bearing a pillow over his head.

'PILLOW FIGHT!'


	10. Chapter 10

'I bet Hiro was gutted he couldn't come!'

It was a few weeks later, and it was the first weekend since classes had started at SFIT. The gang were at the movies, queuing outside to get tickets for a new horror film that had just been released that week. It was an 18, and they would have denied Hiro entry as soon as he'd entered the building, so he stayed at home whilst his siblings had gone to the film with his friends. The film had proved to be immensely popular, and they were queuing outside despite the film not being premiered for many hours.

Rena shrugged. 'He didn't seem too bothered, but he's always been a bit of a wimp when it comes to scary films.'

Fred butted in, interrupting Honey as she started to ask something else.

'I CANNOT WAIT! I have been waiting to see this movie for so long, did you guys know that-' and away he was, prattling loudly about the film, not caring or noticing that no one was listening to him. Honey shook her head, rolling her eyes towards Rena who grinned back at her. Typical.

'Hey Fred, you know that popcorn is meant to be for when we're actually watching the film? Not, y'know, 5 hours beforehand?' Gogo said, poking him in the shoulder. He stopped mid-rant and narrowed his eyes at her.

'No, this is pre-movie excitement popcorn! Of course I'm gonna get more! You really thought I was gonna watch this film with just a medium sized popcorn?' Fred scoffed, 'you don't know me at all!'

'Pre-move excitement popcorn isn't a thing buddy.' Wasabi added, clapping a large hand on his shoulder. Rena turned away from them, shaking her head as Fred tried to argue that it was a thing, with Honey, Gogo and Wasabi trying to convince him to save his money. He wasn't having any of it.

Tadashi suddenly limped into view. He had a new prosthetic made by Hiro, with some input by both himself and Rena. All in all, they didn't do a bad job. However, he was still a little unsteady on his feet and still went everywhere with at least one crutch. They had given the old crutches back to the hospital, but he'd made some new ones that folded into a small box smaller than a phone when he pressed a button. He used them religiously.

'Hey, sorry! The lift was broken and it took me a while to get up and down the stairs.'

'Nah it's fine, I was just thinking that you were taking the biggest shit the world has ever seen.' Rena teased, squeezing his arm as he approached. He stuck his tongue out at her.

'Yeah yeah whatever!'

Meanwhile, back at the cafe, Hiro was taking advantage of the empty flat for the day. It was only lunchtime, yet he knew Rena and Tadashi would be gone for ages. The film wasn't until 5, but Fred had insisted on them going extra early to queue up. Not only that, but they'd travelled an hour away to see the film in a nearby city which he didn't care about, one that had reclining seats in the movie theatre. He had been jealous at first, but then Rena had shown him the trailer and he had decided firmly that he'd much rather stay at home anyway.

He stood up, stretching. He pulled his t-shirt on and decided to head down to the kitchen to grab something to eat before having the TV to himself. He glanced guiltily at the pile of homework he had already been set. Nah, it seemed easy. He'd do it later. He strode over to his desk and picked up a book from the top of the pile, intending to put it back on his shelf when he dropped it, and it landed harshly on his foot. Pain shot up his toe and he yelped.

'OW!' He sat down promptly on his bed, wincing. Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of a balloon inflating and he whipped his head around to Tadashi's half of the room. Baymax had activated, and was now standing in his charging port, looking at him somewhat creepily. He walked over to him slowly as Hiro stared at him.

'Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare assistant.'

'Oh. Hey Baymax, I thought you were at SFIT.'

'I was alerted to your need to medical attention when you said 'ow.' On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your pain?'

'0? I'm fine, just stubbed my toe a little.' Baymax stared at him, unblinking. 'Uhh, you can shrink now.'

Hiro turned away from the robot and sat at his desk, turning on his computer. He fiddled with the lamp on the side as it powered on. He was aware of Baymax still staring at him, and turned around in his chair to face him again.

'OK I was trying to be polite, but please shrink now.'

Baymax blinked and Hiro sighed, aggravated. 'What was it that I need to say to get you to power off? Something about care?' Baymax didn't say anything and he sighed, pulling out his phone. Typing a message to his brother to ask him, he was suddenly stopped mid-sentence by Baymax.

'Your neurotransmitter signals are abnormal.'

'Uhh, so?'

'It means you are suffering, Hiro. You are my patient, and I would like to help you. What seems to be the issue?'

'What are you talking about?'

'My sensors are indicating abnormal readings. Diagnosis - anxiety disorder.'

Hiro squirmed uncomfortably. 'Yeah, I know that. Now go away.'

'But you are my patient. I can also conclude that you are suffering from something else -diagnosis, puberty.'

Hiro snorted. 'OK whatever you say big fella.' He stood and began to push him back towards his charging port. 'Time to shrink now!'

'I cannot deactivate until you say you are satisfied with your care.'

'Fine! I am satisfied with my- argh!' He had slipped on one of his discarded socks and gone skidding across the room. He landed, face down next to his bed. He exhaled deeply, blowing the stray hair out of his eyes when he noticed something sticking out from under his bed slightly.

'Oh nice!' He jumped forwards and pulled his hoodie out from under the bed, the one he had been wearing the day of the fire. It was his favourite hoodie, and he thought he'd somehow lost it in the chaos. He held it out, it needed a wash. It was still covered in soot, and it reeked of smoke. He wrinkled his nose and tossed it over his shoulder into the washing basket by the stairs.

'You fell. I will scan you now.'

Hiro jumped at the voice from over his shoulder, he had momentarily forgotten that Baymax was still there. Whilst Baymax was scanning him he noticed something out the corner of his eye. Something small and black, twitching on the floor. For a second he thought it was a spider. But it couldn't be. Spiders don't move like that... do they? He edged closer, ignoring Baymax's questions. He crouched on the floor and picked up the thing, holding it up to his eyes between his thumb and forefinger.

'Why are you moving?' He whispered curiously, 'you're the only one left. What are you being attracted to?' He shook his head, laughing at his stupidity. It wasn't being attracted to anything - it was a robot that had been broken. Whether by his fall when the building exploded or the smoke he did not know. He sighed and strode over to his desk, placing it in a petri dish where it tapped against the side annoyingly, as though trying to break out. He was disinterested in the pathetic little thing now that his computer had powered on. Hand on his chin, he sat there and scrolled aimlessly through Twitter.

'Your tiny robot is trying to go somewhere?'

'Oh yeah?' Hiro muttered distractedly, too busy watching a video that had popped up on his feed. 'Why don't you uh, see where it's wanting to go?'

'Would that improve your emotional state?'

'Mhmm.' He refreshed the page, and it was a couple of seconds before he realised that the tapping noise the microbot was making had gone. So had Baymax.

'Baymax?' He asked the air, walking across his room to the window. 'Uhhh, Baymax? OW?' He paused, and glanced out the window. His heart missed a beat as he saw Baymax narrowly get missed by an oncoming car.

'SHIT!' He exclaimed, running downstairs and pulling his shoes on as fast as he could. 'Oh god, Tadashi's gonna murder me!' He muttered to himself as he ran downstairs, wrenching the door open and tearing off down the street after his brother's robot.

'BAYMAAAAXX!'

'Okay, into the charging port!' He hauled Baymax into his charging port and slumped onto his bed, exhausted. 'Note to self,' he muttered under his breath 'don't go to the police. Ever. Again.' He sat up and buried his face in his hands, replaying the day's events over and over in his mind, mulling over the facts and possible answers to the questions that kept coming up in his head.

'Tadashi.'

'I- what?' He lifted his head, surprised by the sudden mention of his brother's name.

Baymax pointed to Tadashi's side of the room. 'Tadashi.'

'Tadashi's gone.'

'When will he return?'

'I don't know, a few hours at least. He went to see a movie with everyone.'

Hiro squeezes his eyes shut, pressing his palms against his eyes as he concentrated. The microbots, they were destroyed in the fire. The fire. It all came back to the fire. Opening his eyes, he sighed heavily. That damn fire. He sunk back into the mattress.

'You appear to be distressed. What is the problem?'

'Nothing Baymax, I'm fine.'

'You are my patient, I would like to help you.'

'You can't fix some things buddy.'

'What do you mean, Hiro?'

Hiro stared at him. 'The fire?' It then occurred to him that Baymax probably had no idea what had happened. 'Oh. There um, there was a fire. At SFIT. And an explosion. Tadashi was hurt pretty bad. He, uh, he lost a leg. He was in a coma. It was pretty bad.' He swallowed thickly, attempting to get rid of the lump rising in his throat. He hated talking about what happened, even though that's all anyone seemed to talk about at school. The fire. Callaghan. Tadashi. The burnt projects. All those hours of time wasted. All that money. Wasted. He brushed away a single tear and shook his head quickly. No. No crying. Stop it. He turned at the sound of Baymax moving, and stared as he plugged his finger into Hiro's moniter.

'What are you doing?'

'I am downloading a database on trauma.'

'Why?'

'I would like to help you. You are my patient. The first step to recovery is contact with friends and loved ones. I am contacting them now.'

'What?! No!' He dived towards the robot, but he was too late.

'Your friends have been contacted.'

'Unbelievable!' He said in exasperation, clapping his hand to his forehead. Suddenly, he was consumed by vinyl.

'What are you doing?'

'Physical reassurance is key. You will be alright, there there.' He patted him on the head and Hiro wriggled out of his grasp.

'I'm fine! It was just a freak accident I-'

He trailed off, it was like a lightbulb had gone off in his mind.

'Unless it... wasn't an accident? The fire, it was set as a trap to steal my microbots! Whoever lit that fire is responsible for what happened to Tadashi! The guy in the mask! We gotta catch him!'

Rena screamed at the jumpscare on screen, popcorn flying everywhere.

'How did you ever convince me to go to this?!' She hissed at Fred sitting two seats down. He wasn't listening, instead staring at the screen with horrid fascination. It was like he was in a trance. She slumped back in her seat and pulled her hood down over her eyes. Never again. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she cringed. Whoops. She subtlety pulled it out from her pocket to read the text displayed on her screen.

Hiro needs assistance from friends and loved ones. You have been contacted in order to come talk to him, sharing feelings is essential in the road to recovery.

There was more but she didn't bother reading it. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, just as Honey nudged her from the seat next to her.

'Did you get it too?' She whispered, holding out her phone so Rena could see the same message displayed on it.

'Yeah?' She replied quietly, no longer paying attention to the screen. From two seats along, she could see Gogo and Wasabi comparing texts on their phones, and next to her Tadashi was also staring at his phone in confusion. Even Fred had tore his eyes away from the screen to see what they were silently discussing. Out of the corner of her eye, Rena saw a movie attendant walking over to their row.

'Guys! We need to go. Now.'

'Always wait one hour after eating before swimming.' Hiro's heart hammered in his chest as Baymax pulled him back from the edge. This was partly due to the fact that Baymax had just saved him from plunging into the icy water and partly due to the fact that he could not shake off the feeling that they were being watched. Suddenly, there was the sounds of the huge shipping containers being moved and he dragged Baymax behind one as he watched the masked man anxiously. He felt as though he was going to be sick, watching his invention being used for... whatever that guy was doing.

'Okay Baymax, palm heel strike in 3...2...'

But he never got to one for he was suddenly blinded by a light that had come out of nowhere. He whirled around and Wasabi's car was parked in front of him. His friends piled out and surged towards him and he swore under his breath.

'No! What are you doing here? I thought you were seeing that movie?! Go!'

'Yeah, we WERE seeing the movie.' Fred replied, somewhat angrily.

Rena shoved her way past everyone else, eyes blazing. She grabbed a fistful of his hoodie and he had no choice but to look up to her angry face. 'What the HELL are you doing? Going for a walk in the creepiest part of the city? On your own?! What were you THINKING?'

'I'm not alone! I have Baymax!' He replied, 'uh, could you put me down?' She let go and he stepped back.

'Yeah, why is he wearing carbon-fibre underpants?' Asked Gogo, jerking a thumb over her shoulder to indicate Baymax who was stood there, staring at them.

'Hiro!' Tadashi had only just limped up to him, 'what are you doing with Baymax? What if he got destroyed? Do you have ANY IDEA how long it took me to plan and make him? I cannot believe you!'

'Okay, I get that you're angry but this really isn't the time for conversation! You need to get out of here!'

'It's okay Hiro.' Honey reassured him gently, 'we're here for you. That's why Baymax contacted us.'

'Those who suffer from trauma require support from friends and loved ones. Who would like to share their feelings first?' Baymax said.

'Uhh what is he talking about?' Asked Wasabi, 'what is he planning, group therapy or something?'

'I'll go first!' Fred exclaimed excitedly, 'you know it's been 30 days since my last HOLY MOTHER OF MEGAZON!' He yelled hysterically, pointing upwards as the man in the mask loomed above them. Honey gasped and took a photo, flash on. Angered, the masked men sent the shipping container hurling through the air towards them. Wasabi let out a high-pitched, girlish scream as Hiro felt hands pushing him roughly to the side. He fell just outside the area that the container would have come crashing down on if it weren't for Baymax. He scrambled to his feet as everyone ran back to the car.

'Baymax! Roundhouse-' He didn't get to finish, Rena had run forwards and seized his wrist, pulling him back to the car.

'What? NO!' He yelled at her, struggling against the vice-like grip that she had on his wrist. 'Baymax can handle that guy!' She ignored him and practically threw him into the backseat of the car, jumping in beside him and slamming the door shut. He climbed over her, ignoring her yelps of pain as he tried to wrench the door open. She seized his shoulders and shook them.

'Stop. It.'

He slumped back in his seat, huffing. He knew Baymax could take that guy! If they didn't stay, he would get away! Besides, he would rather be out there than crammed into the back seat with his sister, Fred and Honey. Gogo and Tadashi had squeezed themselves into the front seat, and Wasabi was driving. The masked man appeared again, looming into view with his microbots in tow. There was an almighty CRASH as Baymax landed on the roof of the car.

'Wasabi!' Honey whimpered, eyes wide at the sight of the man in front of them.

'Yep, okay, goodbye!' Wasabi yelled as the car started.


	11. Chapter 11

'Hiro! Explanation NOW!' Yelled Gogo as they pulled out of the creepy alleyway and sped off down the street.

'He stole my microbots! He started the fire and I don't know who he is!'

'What, so you thought you'd single-handedly attempt to take him down, armed with a robotic nurse?' Rena exploded, 'what got into you?'

'Did you not hear the part about he started the fire? He was responsible for all that damage and, and for Tadashi!' He yelled back, only realising what he'd said when he realised everyone was staring at him. Rena reached out and squeezed his hand, an invisible surge of understanding passing between them.

'Okay but now a man in a mask is trying to kill us!' Shrieked Wasabi, turning on his blinker as he said this.

'Did you actually just put your blinker on?! Are you KIDDING ME!' Gogo spluttered, and they bickered in the front.

'Alright but we don't know he's trying to kill us!' Said Honey, trying to remain positive. And this would have been all well and good if he had not launched a car at them right after she'd said this. Wasabi swerved sharply to the right and it scraped the side of the car as it screeched down the road.

'Nope!' Tadashi yelled over Wasabi and Gogo's bickering, 'definitely trying to kill us!'

'R,' Hiro begged, 'come on! Let me out! Baymax and I can take that guy!' He lent against the door as he said this, and Rena screamed as he door came blasting off and his face was suddenly inches away from the road. He was hauled back into the car by Baymax.

'Seatbelts save lives. Buckle up every time!'

Rena grabbed his hand, her face white. Hiro realised with a pang that her hands were shaking, and felt guilty almost instantly. He did not pull away.

'WHY HAVE WE STOPPED?!' Gogo shrieked at Wasabi, eyes popping.

'The light's red!'

'There are no red lights in a car chase! That is IT!' She clambered over onto the driving seat, seizing control of the wheel from Wasabi. Hiro was thrown into his sister as Gogo turned sharply down a side street, crashing into the bins outside a block of flats.

'Look at the mask! The creepy cloak! We're under attack from a super villain, people! How cool is that?! I mean it's scary obviously, but how cool!'

'Uh huh.' Rena said through gritted teeth as they sped dangerously down a hill, 'super cool Fred.'

They sped across the city as quick as lightning, recklessly speeding past various different obstacles such as benches and streetlights on their way. There were various whoops and screams as Gogo drove on, narrowly avoiding smashing into a train. Suddenly, it went dark as they were in a tunnel of microbots.

'Oh SHIT!' Yelled Wasabi, 'there's no way we're gonna make it out of this one!'

'We're gonna make it!' Shrieked Honey shrilly, we're gonna make it!

'We're not gonna make it!'

'We're gonna make it!'

'WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!'

'WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT!

They burst out the end of the tunnel and plunged into the icy depths of the sea, the car slowly sinking to the bottom.

Rena wrenched open the car door; her vision already beginning to swim. Her lungs and chest ached as she clung to the metal, desperately trying to hold in her breath. Her arm brushed against something and she turned quickly, her vision obstructed by white. Baymax gently grabbed her arm and she suddenly found herself being pulled upwards. Her arm brushed against Tadashi and she grabbed his sleeve, craning her neck up to the surface of the water. After what seemed like an eternity, they finally got to the surface. She took in a breath so huge it made her dizzy. Her throat burnt as she coughed and spluttered. Baymax floated gently on over to the side and they all slowly clambered onto solid ground. Rena collapsed onto the floor next to Fred, coughing her lungs out. Slowly, she raised her head and surveyed the scene, realising slowly how there was a distinct lank of spiky blak hair amongst them. 

'Hang on, where's Hiro?' She said, familiar panic rising in her throat. 'Did he make it out? Baymax, where is he?'

Tadashi sat bold upright, turning his head frantically from side to side, hoping to catch a glance of their younger brother.

'My sensors detect Hiro. Up there.' Baymax said, pointing upwards to where the masked man was standing on a huge tower of microbots. Rena's eyes followed and she saw Hiro, being held in the air by microbots. Even from where she was standing, she could see that he was unconscious. She clapped a hand to her mouth and a muffled scream escaped her lips. She started running towards him, blinded by tears, and before she even managed to get remotely far away she was pulled back by Honey-Lemon. She realised why. The masked man was coming towards them. Rena staggered backwards, intimidated by the sheer amount of robots the creepy man possessed. Quick as a flash, the robots deposited Hiro at her feet and before she even had time to react he'd disappeared completely. She knelt down, heart hammering. She placed two shaking fingers to his neck, and felt a pulse. She thought she was going to vomit, she was so relieved. Baymax appeared by her side and gently scooped Hiro up.

'How bad is he hurt?' She asked the robot, trying to keep her voice steady.

'I cannot be sure until I can give him a proper examination. However, I am concerned that your body temperatures are low and it is not safe to stay here.'

Rena nodded, and walked over to where Tadashi was sitting. She grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. He nodded grimly at her before walking slowly to where everyone was gathered around Hiro and Baymax.

'Robot man's right.' Said Gogo.

'Yeah please can we get out of here?' Wasabi pleaded, 'it's super scary here.'

'Okay but where are we gonna go?' Tadashi questioned, 'the cafe is on the other side of town, as is your guys places.'

'I know a place!' Announced Fred happily, 'follow me!'

He turned and set off, the group following him hesitantly.

'Freddie, where are we going?' Honey asked nervously.

'Oh, I live around here! It's like, 10 minutes away from here.'

'Do you?' Tadashi asked doubtfully.

'Yeah man!'

Tadashi turned to Rena, shaking his head. 'You know, I've known him since high school and it's only just occurred to me that I've literally never been to his house.'

Rena smiled weakly, not bothering to respond. She glanced back at her brother's unconscious form, sub-consciously chewing her nails anxiously.

'Oi, Squish.' Tadashi said to her, and she looked up, momentarily distracted.

'Oi, Dash. What?'

'Are you doubting my skills as an inventor? Hiro will be fine, he's in the hands of Baymax, created by the most handesome, intelligent and modest inventor ever.'

'Uh no, he was made by a one-legged douche who likes to run into fire for fun. Apologies for worrying slightly'

Tadashi snorted with laughter and she grinned.

'Okay, okay. Fair enough.'

'Surprised you're not crapping yourself with worry.'

'Oh, I can assure you that I am.' He replied, his smile faltering slightly.

'Well with any luck, he's had some sense knocked into him. What is it with you two and trying to get killed recently?'

Tadashi sighed. 'You tell me.'

They walked in silence for a few minutes, still shivering rather violently. Rena dragged her hand through her hair for the tenth time in two minutes, thinking.

'I don't get it.' She blurted out, 'why'd he just put Hiro back down? Obviously I'm not complaining!' She added quickly, seeing the look on her elder brother's face. 'But... I don't know, I was convinced he was gonna kill him.' She shrugged, 'maybe I'm over thinking things.'

'No, it makes sense.' Said Tadashi, 'I have to admit that I was terrified in those two minutes that he had him. I was sure he was gonna squeeze him to death or something, good thing Baymax was there cause I almost had a heart attack.' He eyed Baymax nervously as the robot approached them. 'An expression!' He added loudly, he retreated.

'Yeah well, that was nothing compared to the fire.' Rena said carelessly.

Tadashi cringed. 'I said I'm sorry!'

She shrugged, 'nah it's fine. I've already told you that.'

'Yeah but I still feel bad!'

'Shut it, or I swear I will punch you.'

Tadashi recoiled slightly and she laughed. 'I can't believe you're actually scared of me now. God, imagine being scared of your baby sister!' She teased, elbowing him in the ribs.

'Nah nah nah! I'm not scared! I just- WOAH.' He stopped dead in the middle of the pavement, and Rena turned to where he was eyeballing. She hadn't even noticed the ridiculously nice neighborhood they'd stumbled into, and the even nicer that Fred had just approached.

'Woah is right.' Said Wasabi, shaking his head in disbelief.

'Nah, I'm not buying it.' Gogo muttered angrily. 'Hey DINGUS!' She shouted. 'Now is not the time for a pathetic joke! I am FREEZING and we have a KID who is injured! I'm not in the mood for-'

'Holy cow.' Whispered Rena, for the door had just opened and Fred was greeted by the butler. Gogo's accusing finger had dropped to her side as she stared at the giant house.

'Come on!' Fred called from inside, and they practically ran to catch up with him. (Apart from Tadashi, who was being pulled along by Rena and was stumbling more than running, really.) They walked quickly through carpeted halls, in awe of how huge Fred's house was.

'Freddie I can't believe this is your house!' Honey whispered in awe.

'Yeah I thought you lived under a bridge.' Gogo smirked.

Rena slowed slightly and fell into step with Baymax. 'Is he okay?' She asked anxiously, looking up at her brother.

'I am unsure. I will perform a full examination now.' Baymax answered smoothly as they entered Fred's bedroom. Everyone else was marvelling at the weird decor, but she barely gave it a second glance. Baymax gently placed Hiro down on the sofa, and she sat on the floor next to his head, stroking his hair gently as Baymax scanned him. Tadashi sank down next to her and awkwardly patted her shoulder. She stared at him incredulously and he withdrew his hand.

'Sorry.' Quickly glancing at him, she saw the tears welling up in his eyes.

She shook her head at him, smirking. 'no need to apologise. Weirdo.' She withdrew her own hand from Hiro's hair and stood quickly, brushing imaginary dust off of her dungarees. Tadashi remained firmly where he was, rooted to his position on the floor. She purposely avoided his gaze, knowing that if he cried she would start bawling. She instead focused her eyes on the strange painting of Fred atop a tiger that was mounted on the wall as Baymax finished with his initial assessment. Honey came up behind her and squeezed her hand comfortingly, and she squeezed back. It was a lot more helpful than the awkward pat of Tadashi's, somehow.

'My scan shows that he has two bruised ribs and a wound on the back of his head that will require stitches. He may also be concussed, but I cannot be sure on this until he awakens. My scan indicates that he will awaken soon.' Baymax turned to Fred, who was stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall. 'Hiro will need ice.' Fred nodded and left to go get some. Baymax turned back towards Hiro and lifted his head slightly until she could see the worringly large gash at the back of his head. Thankfully, it had stopped bleeding. The robot produced a clean rag out of thin air and gently mopped the back of his head before spraying it with his finger. With Tadashi's mute assistance, he neatly and quickly stitched the cut up. After only a couple of minutes, the wound was clean and stitched up. As he was finishing up, Hiro stirred slightly. Rena stepped towards him as he opened his eyes, groaning slightly. He sat up slowly, wincing. She took the empty seat on the sofa next to him just as Fred returned with a bag of frozen peas. He tossed the bag to her, who caught it before gently pressing it to Hiro's side. A soft moan of relief escaped his lips. He shut his eyes and lent back against the back of the sofa gently. Everyone gathered around the sofa, draping themselves over the various seats in the vicinity.

'You okay?' Asked Tadashi quietly.

'Peachy.' Answered Hiro sleepily.

'Clearly.' Rena replied icily. He opened his eyes and looked at her.

'Oh come on! I'm fine!'

'Hiro you were literally almost squeezed to death by your own invention!' Gogo exclaimed before Rena had a chance to say anything.

'Yeah, how are you so chill?' Honey added, eyes wide.

'They key word here is almost!'

'How's your vision?' Asked Tadashi, ignoring his last statement. 'Do you feel ill?'

Hiro narrowed his eyes. 'Not concussed bro.'

'Just checking!'

'I am worried that your body temperatures are still low.' Baymax said, out of nowhere. As he said this, Rena suddenly realised how cold and wet she still was. Baymax came and sat down in the middle of their little circle and began to glow a soft red colour. Rena felt the benefit of the heat almost instantly and sighed in relief. She reached her hands out and rubbed them together, as though Baymax was some sort of weird, huge campfire.

'Yeah why are you all wet?' Asked Hiro curiously as they all warmed themselves up.

'My car sank to the bottom of the lake.' Said Wasabi bitterly, 'took me ages to save up for that.'

Hiro looked down at his hands, twisting them in his lap. 'Listen guys, I'm sorry. But in my defence, you weren't meant to be there!'

'Well you should have thought about that before you went running off after masked weirdos!' Rena said in exasperation. 'What's up with the police?'

'I went to the police!' He protested loudly, 'all they did was ask me to write down my parent's phone number so they could come pick me up!'

'It is true!' Baymax added, 'we jumped out a window!'

'You WHAT?!' Rena and Tadashi yelled this at the same time.

'OK, calm down!' Interrupted Gogo fairly, holding her hands up as Rena rose to her feet. 'How about Hiro tells us what happened, and then we can decide whether or not he gets to live?'

She sat down with a thud and nodded. Hiro breathed a sigh of relief and re-positioned himself slightly, wincing. He then launched into an extensive account of the afternoon's events. He expected interruptions as he detailed how they had broke into the warehouse and the masked man had tried to attack them before they eventually did jump out the window, but no one said a word. He finished his story after a few minutes and there was no movement, everyone was taring at him in disbelief.

'Oh shit.' Stated Wasabi simply.

'Yeah. We need to apprehend him! He started the fire to steal my microbots! I know he did!'

'Apprehend him?' Gogo questioned incredulously, 'ok, we don't even know who he is, for start!'

'Hiro we want to help you,' Honey said gently, 'but there's no way we can apprehend this guy!'

'But what if we figure out who it is?' Fred said excitedly, jumping to his feet. 'I have a theory!' He strode confidently over to his book shelves and tossed various comic books and graphic novels over his shoulder. Rena caught one that was sent spinning through the air towards her face and looked at the front cover, confused. A generic comic-book super-villain stared back up at him.

'Freddie, I don't understand.' Honey lemon was holding her comic out at arms length, squinting at it. 'Are we supposed to be making a link here?'

'Yes! There's an obvious link!' Fred explained, exasperated at their clear lack of superhero knowledge. 'All of these villains are super rich guys in disguise! And we know a super rich guy, who also happens to be a bit of a dick!'

'Alistair Krei.' Rena blurted, understanding suddenly.

'Yes!' Fred was practically shivering from excitement at her revelation.

'Oh come on!' Scoffed Wasabi, tossing the book onto the floor.

'Yeah there's no way!' Said Tadashi, 'the guy's too high profile!'

'Yeah but that's the point!' Said Fred happily, 'no one is gonna expect big tough business man Krei!'

'No.' Tadashi argued firmly, shaking his head. 'There's no way I'll believe that.'

'No..' Rena said slowly, 'I think he's onto something. No really!' She added as Tadashi shook his head at her, 'Tadashi, you trust too easily. Remember at the showcase?'

'Oh shit, yeah!' Hiro piped up, 'he tried to steal my microbot! Jesus I'd forgotten about that!'

'And at Callaghan's vigil,' she noticed Tadashi wince at the mention of their dead professor but she ploughed on nevertheless. 'He dragged me off to the bridge, demanding to know if you were still working on your microbots. I told him no, and he looked really angry.'

'Okay then fine.' Said Tadashi, 'we'll take this information to the police again. They can open up an investigation and we can keep our noses out.'

Hiro started protesting, but Rena shut him up with a glare. 'They'll listen to Tadashi, he's not some scruffy little 14 year old kid.'

'The police are gonna do nothing!' Hiro retorted angrily.

'Yeah he's right. Superhero rule number 1, never go to the police.' Fred added, sitting back down on the floor again.

'Wait are you actually suggesting that we go after him ourselves?' Exploded Wasabi, 'Fred, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!'

'Yeah and what if your foolproof theory is wrong?' Gogo asked him scathingly, 'then what, genius? You go and attack Krei for seemingly no reason?'

'She has a point.' Honey said gently, looking back at Hiro. 'We don't really know anything about him other than his creepy sense of style.'

'His blood type is O+.' Baymax said brightly, lifting a robotic finger into the air. 'His cholesterol levels are-'

'Baymax, you scanned him?!' Hiro yelped excitedly. He tried to jump to his feet but Rena pushed him back onto the sofa where he fell back with a badly disguised screech of pain.

'No.' She said quietly to him. 'Stop being so reckless.'

'But he stole my microbots! He almost killed Tadashi! The police won't do anything, we need to bring him to justice!' Hiro's eyes were ablaze and Rena sighed. There was no stopping him now, he was in action mode.

'Okay but to find him we're gonna need to scan the whole city, which will literally take forever!' Tadashi said in annoyance.

'I'll upgrade Baymax's sensors then.'

'Oh will you now?'

'Yeah! I will! In fact, all of us will need an upgrade if we're gonna catch this guy!'

'But we're nerds!' Exclaimed Wasabi in frustration.

'Well yeah, but we can be so much more than that!' Hiro said encouragingly. 'Come on guys, you don't even want revenge for the guy that turned your best friend into a cripple?'

'SHUT UP!' Yelled Tadashi angrily, and everyone turned to stare at him in shock. Hiro recoiled slightly under his angry glare. 'No! No one is doing this because of me! I'm not gonna watch anyone get hurt anymore! Especially you!' He added, jabbing his finger at Hiro who stared back at him in defiance.

'Says the guy who RAN INTO A BURNING BUILDING! I need your approval, and I'm doing this with or without your help. I don't care what you say, but that guy is gonna pay for what he did to you. And my microbots.'

Rena looked at him, hesitating. Then, before she could change her mind - 'fine. I'm in.'

'Me too!'

'And me!'

'So am I.'

'Yeah, let's give that guy a taste of his own medicine!'

Tadashi stared at them in disbelief, realising that he'd been overpowered. Finally, he slumped his shoulders in defeat and nodded. Fred jumped into the air, pumping his fist.

'You guys! Our origin story begins! We're gonna be SUPERHEROES!'


	12. Chapter 12

A few evenings later, they were gathered around Hiro's computer in the Hamada's garage. Hiro had wanted to get started the next day, but Rena and Tadashi had point blank refused to let him go anywhere that wasn't either his bedroom or down to the kitchen. His ribs were still a little tender and his head ached dully every now and then but on the whole, he was fine. As though nothing had even happened to him. In his opinion, his siblings had been annoyingly stubborn. In their opinion, they had been keeping him safe. However, time was running out and they could no longer deny that they needed to get on with actually creating some gear. And that is how Rena Hamada ended up stood in her freezing cold garage on a Wednesday night instead of studying, watching her little brother enthusiastically explain things that none of them had the heart to tell him that they already knew. Displayed on the screen in front of them was a mask with the neurotransmitter behind it as well as a digital drawing of a red bird that Hiro had been pondering for the last few days. Rena stared blankly ahead at the screen as Hiro blabbered on about needing to take the mask or whatever. Unlike her friends, she'd heard it all before and was beginning to grow bored. She just wanted to get scanned and get back into her hoodie, which Hiro had made her take off in order to get a more accurate scan. She was stood next to an over-excited Fred and behind Honey-Lemon. She let her eyes drift over to her silky hair, watching how every slight move sent ripples down the golden waterfall cascading down her back. She let her mind wander, and before she knew it she had completely lost focus, too busy daydreaming about something that she could not recall when she thought about it later.

'Rena! RENA!' Hiro was snapping his fingers impatiently in her face. 'OI! Get in line.'

She snapped back to reality quickly and stumbled quickly over to the line up. She lifted her arms up at Hiro's command and he scanned them before sliding back over to his computer and typing frantically on the keyboard.

'Okay. We should be able to get everything finished by this weekend if we work fast. Starting now.' He reached over the desk and grabbed a notebook that he had thrown on the side earlier and brandished it in the air. 'I've planned everyone's suits, I just need some input from you, then we can get to work. He tossed the notebook to them and turned back to the computer, face set in concentration. Fred caught the book and flicked through it until he saw the proposal for his suit. He gave a roar of delight. 'A monster! This is so cool! I can't believe this is finally happening!'

'Okay dodo brain, but can the rest of us see?' Gogo asked, holding her hand out for the notebook. He handed it over reluctantly and watched as everyone admired the plans for their suits.

'Everyone good?' Called Hiro and they all gave various agreements. 'Nice. Gogo, I'm gonna need the wheels for your bike. Honey, I'll need these chemicals from the lab -' he began to explain what he needed from everyone to create their suits, and after an extensive list of gear to grab he sent them on the way to SFIT. Gogo, Honey-Lemon, Wasabi and Fred headed off to SFIT in Tadashi's car, leaving the three of them alone in the garage. Rena grabbed the notebook again and flicked to the page of the proposal for her own suit again so she could get a proper look at it. To be fair to Hiro, he had designed it well. It was a generic superhero suit with a matching helmet, in a pleasing shade of sunset orange. The most interesting thing about it was the gloves, they were black but had orange spots in the middle. In typical Hiro fashion, he hadn't decided to label anything of importance.

'Hey Hiro, what do the gloves do?' She asked as she approached him, perching on the edge of the desk as she watched him input the code to begin the first of the 3D printing.

'Genetically enhanced plasma. Professor Davies gave me the idea in his last lecture. You know that elastic woman in the incredibles? The idea is similar, I'm gonna make it so that you can flick your wrist and send out a shoot of it so you can grab onto stuff, as well as climbing walls and shit. There's also one in the bottom of the boots.'

'Huh. Neat.' She said, admiring the drawing again.

'Yeah, I thought that you were the best at physical combat out of all of us, so you didn't particularly need a weapon.'

Rena smiled 'thanks, I guess.'

A distant memory stirred up at his words. She was a sophomore, and Hiro was a little freshman who had started high school at the tender age of 11. It was a pretty bad time for him, for all of them. Tadashi and Rena had both skipped grades themselves, but they had never been bullied as much as he had been. At first it was subtle, the standard name calling that anyone would expect to hear in high school. Soon, he was being shoved into lockers and pushed down the stairs. The worst part was, Tadashi and Rena didn't know. Didn't even notice until he had tried to kill himself soon after he turned 12.

It was safe to say that they went ballistic. Tadashi non-stop cried for a week and Rena was excluded for a week after she broke the head bully's nose (as well as a broken arm and rib). She remembered vividly a conversation she had had with a kid that she didn't remember the name of.

'I heard you got excluded, since when did you get good at fighting? I thought you were a nerd?'

'I have two brothers.'

'Oh so they taught you to fight then? Pretty cool.'

'What? No? Hiro started high school at the age of 11 and Tadashi is weaker then wet tissue paper. They need someone to be able to defend them'

She couldn't remember the kid, not even what he looked like. She hoped he was well.

'Hey not bad!' She held out her arm and examined her new suit. It fit surprisingly well. Hiro beamed at her, scribbling something down on his clipboard. He circled her quickly, adding notes as he went.

'Okay.' He scooted to the side and nodded. 'Get the mask.'

She turned towards Fred's butler and formulated a plan. Time to try these fancy gloves. She flicked her wrist and a shot of orange plasma shot out, matching the colour of her suit perfectly. It stuck to the column of the wall, and she flicked her wrist again to pull herself to the wall. She hung there for a second, gooey orange line sticking her to the ceiling of the shelter they were in. She sent another beam of plasma out of her other hand, and quickly used this to climb horizontally along the ceiling, getting quicker as she went. She looked like an overgrown child crossing the monkey bars. After a minute or so, she dropped down in front of Heathcliffe and took the mask straight off his head.

'Nice one!' Hiro called. She ran over to him and handed him the mask before high-fiving him victoriously.

'I rate it!' She said over her shoulder as she sped up to join her friends gathered around an outdoor seating area. She sat down next to Honey, admiring her purse and Wasabi's glowing blades. She watched Tadashi test his suit from afar. He basically had the same gear as Baymax - rocket boosters in his shoes and a fake leg that was sent flying when he pressed the button on his forearm. Rena watched him circle unsteadily around Heathcliffe before swooping in and grabbing the mask. However, he also had a particularly large blade in his belt. Rena knew that after the fire, Hiro was going to make sure that he was best equipped for a quick getaway, whether or not he did this without even realising so. She grinned hugely at Tadashi as he approached, fist bumping him as he stepped past her and sat on the table. The only person left was Fred, and they heard him before they saw him. He emerged from the side of the house, whooping loudly. A great, blue monster leaped in the air and landed perfectly next to Hiro as he wrote more notes onto the clipboard. After a minute or two, he gestured over to Heathcliffe and stepped back. Rena watched, interested. Fred was the only one that refused to disclose the capabilities of his suit, claiming that it would 'ruin the fun.' He jumped into the air, soaring upwards into the sky with huge yells of pure glee. As he came soaring back down to the air, he let out a huge wall of fire around Heathcliffe, trapping him inside the burning ring. She caught Hiro stumble backwards out of the corner of her eye, and watched as he fell onto the ground, chest heaving and eyes wide. It then came to her - the fire.

'STOP!' She screamed, 'FRED! STOP!'

She jumped up, pulling Tadashi to his feet. They bolted towards their brother who had collapsed on the floor and had his head buried in his hands. Tadashi immediately went to his side and Rena grabbed the hose that Gogo had left discarded on the floor after retrieving the mask. She ran to the house and turned it on, the water reaching the fire from where she was stood. She didn't want to move any closer, so instead stood rooted to the spot, extinguishing the fire from afar. Tadashi was pulling Hiro away, and their friends had encircled him, looking concerned. Particularly Fred, who'd taken the top of his costume off and was watching the scene as though close to tears. It was only then that Rena realised how much her own heartbeat had raised, and she found herself running a sweating hand through her hair. She dropped the hose with a dull thud, and walked silently back into the house, pulling her helmet off as she went. Searching for a room she could take refuge in, she walked briskly down the huge hallways. Eventually, she encountered a fairly large library and sank down into one of the chairs. She shakily let out a breath and shut her eyes. That fire had relived some unwelcome memories that she quickly pushed down as soon as she realised about Hiro. Now, however, they returned with full force. As though she'd been smacked in the face. A few tears escaped her closed eyelids as she sank further down into the cushy chair. Slowly, her breathing returned to normal and she was snoring softly in the huge room.

'Rena?' Tadashi's concerned face was inches from hers as she awoke.

'Mmmmm?' She mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes as her mind swam back into focus. She remembered Hiro freaking out, and then how she had rushed to the library and-

'Is he okay?' She asked, stretching.

'Hiro? Yeah, he's fine. He's out with Baymax, they should be back any minute now. Then we're gonna find the masked man.'

'What, now? We've barely had any practice with our gear!'

'I know,' he paused and perched on the end of the expensive coffee table in front of her. 'But we've already wasted enough time, we don't need to give him any more advantages than he already has.'

She nodded, leaning back into the chair and subconsciously tapping her fingers on the armrests. She realised then that she was still wearing her suit, and grabbed a book from one of the shelves using the plasma. It wasn't for any particular reason, just to do something to fill the awkward silence that had filled the room. She held the book out and read its dusty title. Pride and prejudice. Brilliant. She leaned down and gently dropped it onto the floor. Straightening up, she rested her chin on her hand and looked at Tadashi, who was chewing his lip anxiously.

'What's up?'

'Why are you up here?'

'I don't know. I don't like fire so I came inside, sue me!'

'Okay, but why did you both freak out like that?'

'Seriously? Is it not obvious?' He shook his head and she let out a deep breath. 'The fire? The one where you nearly died? I wouldn't suppose you'd get it, I never did tell you what happened immediately after the building exploded.'

'Why not?'

'Because I couldn't! I didn't want to talk about it! Even if I wanted to, I know I would not be able to!'

'Well, can you talk about it now?'

She faltered. 'Maybe?'

Tadashi gave her a piercing look and she nodded. Time to finally tell him. And she did. For the next half hour, she relived everything. From the moment she woke up after the explosion to the second he opened his eyes in the hospital. Tadashi didn't say a word throughout, and she hadn't expected him to. It was surprisingly easy to get everything out, and once she had she felt as though a weight had been lifted somehow. As soon as she finished talking, Tadashi enveloped her in a huge hug, sniffling on her shoulder.

'I'm sorry.' He sniffed, 'I had no idea. At all.'

'I know you didn't, and I didn't expect you to either.' They pulled apart and he sat back on the balls of his feet, marvelling in the information he'd just received.

'I get it now. It makes sense.'

'Yeah.'

Rena stared out the window, not really looking at anything in particular. She sensed Tadashi about to say something, possibly launching into a big speech. However, he was interrupted before he even had the chance. They both turned their heads at the sound of footsteps approaching. Rena wiped her eyes quickly and cleared her throat loudly as Honey appeared in the doorway.

'They're back, and they found the guy. We're gonna set off now. Hey, you alright?' She added to Rena as she caught sight of her tear-stained face. Tadashi had already left, racing ahead of them to hear whatever news Hiro and Baymax had brought back with them.

'Yeah. Fine. Let's catch this bastard.'


	13. Chapter 13

'Killer view!'

'Yeah you're right, if I wasn't afraid of heights I would probably love this. But I'm afraid of heights so I don't love this!'

Rena was going to shake her head but she didn't dare move for fear of plummeting to her death. She was wedged in between Gogo and Hiro, the plasma in her gloves sticking her insecurely to the robot's back. Tadashi was flying unsteadily just below them, determined to catch anyone if they fell. Rena didn't know how to break it to him that it would probably just end in both of them spinning downwards towards the icy depths of the ocean. She clung to Baymax a little tighter as she thought about this.

'Almost there!' Hiro yelled over the wind. Rena looked up slightly and saw that he was right. Slowly, the little island was looming closer and closer. A few minutes later, they were descending back down to the ground and she prised herself off Baymax as she jumped down, grateful for the solid floor that her feet met. They stood for a minute, surveying the surroundings.

'This was a bad idea.' Wasabi said nervously, 'look at the signs! That one has a skull face! A SKULL FACE!' Hiro, ignoring him, began to walk towards the building and the rest of them followed cautiously.

'Are you people not seeing this?! Quarantine! That literally says quarantine, are you not aware of what that means?!'

'Quarantine - the act of isolating something in order to prevent sickness and, in some cases, death.' Baymax offered helpfully.

'Did you guys here that?' Wasabi hissed, agitated at their lack of concern.

'Shut UP!' Hiro snapped over his shoulder, 'I hear something.'

Rena stopped at these words, and Fred slammed into her back. She stumbled, arms windmilling madly in an attempt to not send herself crashing to the floor. Gogo grabbed her arm and hauled her up.

'For gods sake Fred!' Rena yelled, 'watch where you're going in that thing!'

'Sorry!' He mumbled through his monster head.

'Oh my god pipe DOWN!' Hiro barked. She opened her mouth to retort but snapped it shut at the look on his face. She instead decided on making a very rude hand gesture behind his back. Gogo sniggered.

'THERE!' Fred bellowed and they turned and pelted this mysterious organism with their gear, leaving the air smelling rank and smoky. Rena spluttered, her eyes watering as she struggled to make sense of the scene. She fumbled around and clapped her hand on Hiro's shoulder as the smoke subdued. A pigeon was stood in the carnage, blinking at them curiously.

'Good job guys.' She joked sarcastically, 'really terrifying individual we just took down. The masked man stands no chance now.'

'Well,' Honey offered hesitantly, 'at least we know our gear works!'

Hiro shook his head and took the lead once more. They walked for a couple more minutes, surveying the outside of the building. After deciding that there was no door to get in, they stepped back as Wasabi roughly cut a hole in the wall in front of them. Rena flinched at the loud sound the concrete made as it smacked into the floor. Surely the masked man knew they were there, they'd made so much racket. Hiro stepped into the building, carefully tiptoeing down the creepy hallway. He motioned for them to follow, and they all scrambled in the building after him. Rena sped up slightly until she was in line with Hiro, Baymax just behind them. She could pretend that this was because she was being sweet and protective or whatever, but the truth was that she wanted to get as far away from Fred as possible. The same Fred who was now singing a theme song.

'Kill me now.' She muttered as Fred's out of tune voice filled the corridor.

'Fred's angels! Duh duh duh, Fred's angels! Harnessing the power of the sun with the ancient amulet they found in the attic! Uh uh uh. The amulet is green! Uh uh uh. It's probably an emerald-'

Rena whirled around and yelled 'SHUT UP!' at exactly the same time as Gogo, Wasabi and Hiro.

'Seriously buddy.' Said Wasabi, 'I will laser hand you in the face!'

'Okay but that would be pretty cool. Imagine if-'

'Guys! I think you should see this.' Rena looked back at Honey, who was stood in the doorway of a room that she hadn't previously noticed. She turned back and followed everyone else in after Honey. Hiro immediately ran up to a monitor some distance away, and everyone else followed quickly. Rena hung back a bit, suddenly paranoid that someone was watching them in the huge room.

'Hey guys!' She called, and a few heads turned. 'You stay up there! I'll keep watch!'

'Okay!' Hiro yelled back down and she nodded, turning her attention back on the door and the hallway beyond the mysterious room. She could hear the sounds of a video being played in the background, and the distinctive sounds of Krei's awful voice. Huh, so they were right. Go figure. She leant against the wall, relaxing slightly. She stayed like that for a few minutes, soaking up the brief peacefulness before chaos ensued when the masked man eventually found them. Maybe this was why it took her a minute to register the fact that there were now shadows moving across the walls. She looked up quickly, the masked man was heading towards her friends, none of whom had noticed. She legged it, running towards them waving her arms and trying to get their attention and not the attention of the man swiftly approaching them. Skidding to a halt, she suddenly remembered the built in ear-piece that Hiro had installed in the inside of all their helmets.

'Behind you!' She hissed into the small microphone, and she just saw them turn as the masked man sent a huge block of concrete spinning towards them. With a colossal bang, it collided with her friends and crushed them.

'NO!' She screamed, running as fast as she could towards where her friends were lying under a huge pile of rocks. Diving into the edge of the pile, she began to desperately pull away rocks and toss them over her shoulder. Despite her panic, a rational voice spoke in the back of her mind as she desperately clawed through the rubble. No, they weren't dead. She knew they were alive, they had to be. However, she became less and less certain as the seconds ticked by. She sucked in a deep breath and sat back on her knees, letting the tears fall freely down her face. Oh god, maybe they were dead. Maybe they had all truly left her, alone. The last of the Hamada's - the last of the group of friends that took up the best seats in the dining hall. How could she be so careless, so-

She screamed in shock and agony as something burst up out of the rubble, sending her sprawling down the stairs that led up to the small platform. She landed roughly on the ground, next to a large red object that she vaguely recognised. She pulled herself to her feet and stumbled towards it, recognising it as Baymax's robotic fist. She sat and stared at it for a second, the metal appearing blurry behind her tears when she was suddenly pulled to her feet. Tadashi had ran down the stairs as fast as he could when he had seen her collapsed on the floor. He took one look at her test-stained face and bombarded her with questions.

'What's wrong? I heard you scream, does anywhere hurt? Do we need to go? Are you concussed? Are-'

'I'm fine oh my GOD I thought-' she spluttered, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled away quickly, before grabbing Hiro who was stood next to her and hugging him as well. He squirmed away after a couple of seconds, moaning about how he 'wasn't a hugger.'

'3 seconds ago I thought you were dead. Let me have this one.'

'Okay I get the situation, really I do.' Gogo interrupted from the side, 'but if we don't go NOW this guy is gonna get away.'

'It's fine, I'm fine. Just don't go getting crushed again and we don't have a problem!' She laughed, her voice perhaps a little too high-pitched. Clearing her throat loudly, she pointed towards the huge doorway at the back of the room through which the villain had escaped whilst she was pre-occupied.

'He went that way.'

They all sprung into action, Gogo racing ahead of them. Hiro clambered onto Baymax quickly. When he reached the top, he stretched out his hand and pulled Rena up to sit alongside him. Tadashi and Fred bounded ahead, with Honey shortly behind them. Wasabi was left alone as Baymax shot after them.

'GUYS!' He screeched, running after them. 'What's the PLAN?'

'Get the mask!' Hiro yelled over his shoulder.

'To be fair!' Rena said, turning to look at him, 'is there a proper plan?'

'That IS a proper plan!' He exclaimed.

She shrugged and flicked her wrist towards the ceiling. She saluted him ironically before gliding up out of her position on the robot's back. She sent more plasma shooting up to the ceiling and clung there on all fours, surveying the scene below her. That guy sure did have a lot of microbots. She watched in horror as the bots send Fred spinning through the air until he crashed into the floor, doing the same with Wasabi a few seconds later. Gogo went after him, successfully slicing through a wall of microbots before he flung her to the side. She collided with the wall and crumpled on the floor with a sickening crash. Heart hammering, she quietly crept along the ceiling as her friends got tossed about like rag dolls. 'Wow.' She muttered to herself as she watched Honey Lemon sliding across the floor before collapsing on top of Gogo's unconscious form. 'We are bad at this.' She stopped when she was directly above the masked man. She would have to drop soon, the blood was rushing to her head rather fast and she already felt horribly lightheaded.

Tadashi flew around the man, crashing through his tower of microbots. The villain was falling, but not for long before his bots caught him midair. He whirled around, pointing at Tadashi as he did so. He was pinned roughly to the wall, and Rena winced at the angle that his arm was bent at as he struggled against the bots. Brilliant. The only people left in the battle were a 14 year old kid, a robotic nurse and her. She tensed slightly, counting to three in her head.

One. Hiro circled the guy, trying to decide the best way to attack him.

Two. She was starting to become dizzy from watching her brother desperately circle the room, trying to come up with a plan. She saw the man raise a hand, about to strike him with a wave of microbots.

THREE!

She dropped, flying through the air momentarily before shooting out a wave of sticky plasma which attached to the man's back. He whirled around at this contact, and she jerked through the air. He stopped, and she took this to her advantage. She activated the plasma in her boots and pulled herself towards him. She ducked under his arm as he swung at her, finding that she was able to safely move across the scarily high tower of microbots thanks to her shoes. Blindly, she swung through the air and made contact with his chest. He fell backwards slightly, the microbots catching him as he took a step or two back. It was then that Rena realised she couldn't take the mask off him here in the air, or they would both fall, maybe even to their deaths. She took a deep breath and turned on her heel, running down the huge mountain of microbots. She was slipping and sliding over them as they moved beneath her feet. She expected to be flipped up into the air, or to be thrown aside like her many friends but she was surprised to find that that wasn't the case. She was aware of the man following her, gliding down on an effortless wave of microbots instead of tripping and stumbling down the heaving mass as she was. Vaguely aware of her companions yelling at her, she kept running. When she had halved the distance between herself and the ground, she chanced a quick glance over her shoulder. He was just behind her. Perfect.

She skidded to a halt and turned quickly, lunging towards the villain. He recoiled in surprise and she seized his wrist, clinging on tight. He swung at her, and she ducked but not early enough. His fist collided with her helmet and the glass shattered. She yelled out as shards of glass went showering in her face, some piercing her skin and remaining stuck there. However, there was so much adrenaline pumping through her system that she didn't even notice. She took advantage of her sudden low position, and brought her head up sharply to his chin. He gave a muffled yell of surprise as her helmet came into harsh contact with his head, falling backwards slightly once more. The microbots caught him again as he went flailing backwards and Rena let out a yell of frustration. She lunged for his mask, and her fingers just grasped at the edge before he pushed her back roughly. She stuck her arms out as she fell backwards, the plasma in her gloves being the only thing that kept her stuck there.

'A little help please!' She gasped desperately into her microphone, rolling out the way just in time as he sent a well aimed kick towards her head. She quickly pulled herself to a feet, swaying unsteadily under the constantly moving mass of the microbots. She shrieked as there was a large boom to her left, and whirled around just in time to watch Tadashi's fake leg flying through the air towards her. She threw herself on the ground, desperately clinging to the endlessly moving wave of microbots. She knew the villain had missed the attack as well, for he had advanced on her in mere seconds. He pulled her to her feet with a tight grip on her upper arm, and she didn't duck in time for yet another swing towards her now unprotected face. She howled in agony as she could feel her mouth filling up with blood. She spat at his feet, before wrenching her arm out of his grip and turning away from him. Suddenly, Fred had appeared at her side, bounding up and landing beside her on the mountain of microbots. However, he did not have the advantage of her boots. He let out a roar, sending flames towards the masked man before he fell backwards, rolling down the hill of microbots.

'FRED!' Rena screamed as she watched him tumbling out of view. The villain took advantage of these few seconds of vulnerability, and he pushed her roughly from behind. For a second, she was falling but she managed to dig her feet in quickly, plasma sticking her to the microbots before she suffered from the same fate as Fred. She blew her hair out of her face and stared him down. She realised then how much height they had gained, and realised that in order for her to safely obtain the mask she needed to get him closer to the ground. Suddenly, an idea hit her and she was shouting at him.

'Come on!' She called, waving her arms at him, 'come at me! I DARE you!'

He stared at her for a second, before swooping down on her. However, this time she was ready. She ducked his first attack and spun around, taking his momentary unsteadiness to her advantage. She lunged forwards, crashing into him. He shouted out, clinging onto her as they rolled down the microbots. She knew it was vital to keep him from using them against her, so she kicked out and hit him as much as she physically could. After a minute or so of this painful, weird looking rolling she took her opportunity. She kicked him roughly, and used the couple of seconds that he was weakened to pull the mask roughly from his head, lobbing it over her shoulder as hard as she could. Instantaneously, she was showered with microbots as they all came crashing down on top of them. She let out a muffled yell before she was suffocating, desperately climbing through the endless bots that were pouring down on top of her. She couldn't breath, couldn't see.

Damn. She'd really underestimated the sheer amount of microbots this scumbag had made.  
\-------------------------

Time froze as Tadashi Hamada watched his little sister throw the mask over her shoulder and disappear under the microbots that Krei had made. He felt himself falling suddenly, landing in a heap a few feet below where the microbots had just been suspending him. He crashed to the ground, the sudden impact bringing him back to reality. He lifted his head slowly, ears ringing. Dragging himself to his feet, he made his way over to the colossal pile of microbots, knowing that his sister was buried beneath them. He gave a strangled yell, before diving headfirst into the pile and almost swimming through them as he struggled to find his sister.

'RENA!' He screamed as he dug his hands into the bots, throwing great fistfuls over his shoulder as he sank further in. Gogo, Hiro, Honey and Wasabi were behind him, scrabbling in the pile themselves. Fred lay unconscious in the corner, Baymax helping him. He had gotten about halfway through the mountain of bots, beginning to loose hope when someone burst out of the microbots. He held his breath, but no. It was Krei. His back was to Tadashi, and he was up and running towards the mask before Tadashi even got a chance to move towards him.

'GUYS!' He screeched, pointing in the direction of Krei, who was swiftly moving away from him. He could barely move, held in place by the microbots despite them being still.

'STAY THERE AND FIND HER!' Yelled Hiro as he raced after him, Honey and Wasabi hot on his heels. Tadashi didn't need telling twice, he tore his eyes away from the scene as Gogo launched herself at Krei as well. He quickly made his way over to where Krei emerged from the pile, knowing that his sister would be close by. He was only looking for about 30 seconds when he saw a bright flash of orange out the corner of his eye. He lunged towards her, yelling out as he sank further into the pile. He sunk his arm in, scrabbling around for a second before he grasped her arm and pulled her out, sending microbots cascading in waves around them. She was barely conscious, and covered in blood.

'Dashi?' She murmered sleepily as he pulled her arm around his shoulder and hoisted her onto her feet. He was reminded painfully of the first few days after he had gotten out of hospital as he dragged her across the room to where Baymax was tending to Fred.

'Yep, yep it's me.' He grunted as he turned to face her. He almost dropped her when he realised just how covered in blood she was. Picking up his pace slightly, he pulled her along a little faster.

'Baymax!' He called as they came closer, 'help!'

Baymax turned and waddled over to them, he picked up Rena with ease and walked over to the wall, where he placed her gently.

'She will be okay.' He said cordially, scanning her. 'She appears to be a little dazed and her wounds need to be seen to, but there is nothing worrying about her injuries.'

Tadashi breathed a sigh of relief. 'Okay. Take good care of her buddy.'

He strode over to Fred and grasped his hand, pulling him to his feet.

'You alright?' He asked as they broke into a run, heading towards the shouting of the battle that was now taking place.

'Hell yeah dude!' Fred answered excitedly, pulling on the head of his costume. 'This is the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me!'

Tadashi shook his head, grinning at his friend. He picked up speed slightly as they neared the scene. Krei still had his back to them, and the mask was in his hand. He quickly pulled it on, microbots surging towards them as Tadashi and Fred skidded to a stop next to their friends. He stared in horror as Krei shoved his mask back on his head, Hiro diving at him as Wasabi sliced through the endless waves of microbots pelting at them.

'Keep him distracted!' Yelled Gogo, throwing a disc at a tower of the bots, slicing it cleanly in half. Tadashi spun around as everything descended into chaos. Fred was leaping about the place, yelling insults at Krei to keep him from pinning them to walls or hurling them across the room. Honey and Wasabi were stood back to back, him slicing the air and the microbots as they came at him and her frantically typing in her purse and sending chemical balls to the microbots, so every now and then an explosion would ring out across the rooom.

'TADASHI!' Hiro shouted, clinging onto Krei's back, trying to prise the mask off of his face. 'DON'T STAND THERE LIKE A USELESS LUMP! DO SOMETHING!'

He came to his senses, hurling himself at Krei. He threw himself onto the floor, sliding to Krei as he took his legs out from beneath him. He folded forwards, Hiro springing forwards as though playing a weird game of leap frog. Tadashi pinned him to the ground, sitting on top of him and twisting his arms behind his back. Hiro ran forwards, about to take the mask off for a second time when Krei jerked out from beneath Tadashi, throwing him off balance. He landed on the floor next to him, and watched as Krei stood in front of Hiro, seemingly not noticing that he was there. Panting hard, Tadashi advanced on him. Krei stepped backwards and crashed into Hiro, who fell on the ground as Krei landed on top of him. They grappled for a second, before disappearing down a flight of stairs that that Tadashi hadn't even realised was there. It was a few seconds before the microbots came crashing down for the second time, and Tadashi and the rest ran to the railings, clinging to the side and watching as Hiro grabbed the mask, pulling himself to his feet. Tadashi's brotherly instinct kicked in, and he wanted to rush down there and shove him out of harms way. But something else told him to stay rooted to where he was. He leant over the barrier, heart hammering as Krei got to his feet, head bowed down low.

'It's over Krei.' Hiro's voice echoed in the now silent room.

The guy lifted his head and Tadashi sat on the floor in shock. How? It couldn't be?

'Professor Callaghan?' Hiro's voice was a lot more shaky now.

Tadashi felt as though he'd been winded. Professor Callaghan. The closest thing to a father he'd had since he was 8, the kindest and most understanding man he'd ever met. The man he abandoned his family for in order to save. Stood there, alive. He shut his eyes, pressing his palms to his eyes until he could see spots of colour dance across his vision. His mind was reeling. How could Callaghan do this?

'But you died!' Hiro said, sounding tearful. Tadashi raised his head to watch the scene unfolding before him.

'No - I had your microbots!' Callaghan snarled, sounding very out of character as he stretched out his arm. 'Give me the mask Hiro!'

'But.. but Tadashi! He went in there to save you!' Tadashi wanted to cry at the sadness in his little brothers voice. 'He.. he nearly died! He lost a leg! Because he ran in there to save your life!'

Callaghan paused momentarily, looking over Hiro's shoulder. Tadashi turned and saw Baymax flying towards them. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion but decided to ignore the strange reason why he'd left his position, deciding to instead focus on the traitor standing before him.

'Well that was his mistake!' Callaghan snapped angrily. Tadashi flinched at the harshness of his tone, tears prickling in his eyes. Regret flooded him, and he felt so small, so ashamed as he stood there. Wow, he really did almost abandon his tiny, broken family for a professor who didn't even care about him. Tears were falling freely down his face as he stared at Callaghan's uncharacteristically stony face. Hiro turned back to look at him, and Tadashi saw anger distort his features as he saw his elder brother crying. Baymax landed beside Hiro, who immediately punched open his access port.

'Baymax. Destroy.'

'Hiro, I have been programmed to heal the sick and injured-'

'Oh yeah? Not anymore.' He pulled out his healthcare chip and tossed it to the floor, Tadashi watched in horror as his carefully programmed healthcare chip was sent spinning across the floor.

'No!' He choked, 'Hiro! Stop!'

It was too late, Baymax's eyes were red and set upon his target. Without thinking, Tadashi vaulted over the railings and was running towards his brother. He pushed him out the way, terrified of what Baymax would accidentally do to him in this state. Callaghan looked panicked as the robot raised his huge fist, ready to shoot it at him. Tadashi slung himself at Baymax, hanging onto his arm in an attempt to stop him murdering Callaghan in front of him. Baymax shook him off easily, and he was thrown to the floor carelessly by his own invention. Fred, Wasabi and Gogo were upon the robot within seconds. Fred tried to push Baymax away, but instead ended up being thrown at the wall for the second time in a few short minutes. Tadashi stumbled towards his project numbly as Baymax tossed his friends aside without thinking. He was sobbing horribly, not daring to think about the very real chance that Baymax may actually kill someone. Out of the corner of his eye, he was aware of Callaghan escaping. He'd grabbed the mask from Hiro, and was now using his microbots to escape. Tadashi howled in a combination of misery and anger as he watched Baymax fire his fist towards him, narrowly missing Callaghan by inches. Honey Lemon shouted his name, and he turned just in time to catch the flash of green that was whistling through the air towards him. He caught it, and rushed over to Baymax to put it back in, panic mounting inside him as he watched the robot raise his fist again. His shaking fingers slotted it back into place with a satisfying click, and Baymax lowered his fist as Callaghan disappeared out of view.


	14. Chapter 14

Tadashi was being pulled to his feet by Baymax. He didn't even remember falling. His mind was reeling, desperately trying to process all the information that he'd just received. His head was pounding and his entire body was aching.

'My protocol was interfered with momentarily. I am sorry for any distress I may have caused.'

'What was that?!' Hiro burst out angrily, and Tadashi stared at him. 'He got away! What the hell did you interfere for?!'

'What you just did, none of us signed up for.' Wasabi snapped acidly.

'Yeah, we said we'd catch the guy. That's it.' Gogo added coolly.

'I never should have let you help me!' Hiro sneered, 'you're all useless anyway!'

Tadashi strode over to him and jabbed a finger at his chest. 'Stop this. Now.'

'Did you not hear what he did?' Hiro shouted, eyes blazing, 'he deserved that!'

'YOU CAN'T JUST TURN AROUND AND DO THAT!' Tadashi roared, and Hiro flinched. 'Baymax was never, ever made to murder ANYONE. I cannot believe that you would do that, it was an idiotic thing to do and you know it. I don't care who he is, I don't care what he did. You cannot just order him to kill anyone that you're angry with!'

'HE NEARLY KILLED YOU! HOW IS NO ONE ELSE ANGRY AT HIM?'

Tadashi scoffed and turned away from him, hardly believing the pure idiocy that he was spouting.

'Tadashi! Look at me! I'm your brother! I-'

Tadashi turned to face him again thunderously. 'No brother of mine would ever do anything like that.'

He watched his brother's face crumple and was flooded with shame. Hiro shoved past him roughly and climbed onto Baymax.

'Baymax. Wings.' His voice was shaking.

'Hiro wait-' Tadashi began to say, approaching his brother. Hiro ignored him as Baymax's rockets started up.

'No wait!' Yelled Gogo as she tried to pull Baymax back to the ground.

'Hiro!'

'Stop! Hiro!'

'Come back!'

It was too late, they were left in smoke as Hiro jetted off without them.

'I cannot believe him!' Rena exclaimed as Tadashi finished explaining that they were trapped on the island. They were all sat leaning against the wall where Baymax had been taking care of her whilst they fought Krei. They'd only just joined her, and she had instantly began questioning them on the lack of a giant robot and one of her brothers.

'To be fair, what you said was a bit of a douche move.' Gogo said, addressing Tadashi.

Rena narrowed her eyes at him, before yelping in pain. She had momentarily forgotten about the many gashes on her face. Baymax had stitched up two particularly large ones on her forehead and cheek. She brushed off their worried glances, instead choosing to pretend that she hadn't noticed.

'The hell did you say?'

Tadashi sighed deeply and lowered his head down, leaning it against his knees that were pulled up against him. He mumbled something incoherent and she frowned at him.

'What?'

'I said he was no brother of mine!' He raised his head to look at her, eyes full of tears.

'Oh.' She stated simply, doing nothing to comfort him as he buried his head in his hands. 'Well yeah, okay. That was a bit stupid.' No one said anything for a second, and she purposely avoided his eyes as she chewed her nails. For a couple of minutes, no one moved and the only sounds being made were Tadashi's pathetic sniffs as he cried into his hands. Rena looked up to see Honey and Gogo furiously communicating non verbally behind his back and she smirked. Gogo caught sight of her and pointed at him.

Say something! She mouthed at her and Rena shook her head, the grin sliding off her face.

The hell do I say?! She mouthed back furiously. Gogo shrugged and Honey mimed putting her arms around him. Gogo nodded to this and Rena sighed in defeat.

Fine!

She shuffled forwards and knelt next to him. She awkwardly pulled him into a hug, not really knowing what to say. Tadashi barely cried, and when he did she was never really the one to offer any useful words of comfort. He lent his head on his shoulder and she was reminded painfully of the day when he awoke at the hospital. Funnily enough, she barely did anything to help him then. She looked over to Honey Lemon (easily the most compassionate member of the group) for help.

'Hey, don't beat yourself up about it.' She mumbled hesitantly after Honey didn't offer any words herself. 'Hang on, why did you say it?' She hadn't been filled in on the whole story, but from the looks on their faces she knew whatever it was, it wasn't good.

'What happened?' She asked, sitting up straighter. Gogo and Honey avoided her gaze, whilst Wasabi cleared his throat loudly and shook his head. Fred jumped to his feet, rambling on about how he was gonna call them a lift back home. Gogo stood and followed him, Rena could hear them muttering together as they disappeared round the corner.

'Uhh, what?' She was now thoroughly confused. 'Stop being all weird!'

Tadashi sat up and lent against the wall, breathing deeply. She tried not to look at his tear-stained face.

'It wasn't Krei in the mask.'

'Oh.. then who was it?'

He shook his head and shut his eyes. She leaned over and placed a hand on his shoulder, wondering what the hell had overcome him.

'It was Professor Callaghan.' Honey whispered, eyes also on Tadashi.

'What? No.. I- he's dead!' Rena exclaimed, sure that they were pulling some sort of sick prank on her. Honey Lemon clamped her lips together and shrugged quickly, shoulders sagging.

'How?' She whispered in awe.

'He stole the microbots.' Wasabi answered heavily.

'Holy shit.' It was all she could say. Her mind was reeling.

'So, then what happened?' She asked quietly, looking over at Tadashi. He sighed deeply and launched into explanation, carefully detailing the events of how he had unveiled himself and about how Hiro tried to murder him.

'Oh my god.' She breathed, only speaking when she was sure that he had finished. 'I- christ man.' She ran her hands through her hair, thinking things over. 'I mean, I don't blame him for going apeshit.'

Tadashi stared at her and she stared back defiantly. 'What?! A man he thought was dead suddenly turns around and says 'oh aye yeah I almost killed your brother but I don't care' and you expect him to be chill with that? Obviously I don't think he should have been murdered!' She added hastily as he opened his mouth to argue. 'But, come on. He's just a kid!'

'So are you!'

'Piss off! 'Dashi you have no idea how much the fire destroyed him, right? Just give him a break!'

'That doesn't excuse anything-'

'Oh yes it does. It does if I say it does. And besides,' she pulled away from him and leant back against the wall, 'if I can forgive him for saying that he wanted me dead then I'm sure he'll forgive you.'

'What?' Tadashi stared at her in disbelief, 'no way.'

'Yeah? You're overrreacting.'

'Nah I think you lot are just seriously messed up.' Wasabi butted in nervously and she grinned.

'Thanks. It's the trauma.'

Tadashi looked appalled but Honey and Wasabi were laughing.

'Why are you booing me?' Rena laughed as he elbowed her roughly, 'you know I'm right! Mate, our parents died in a car crash that we were in and you half burned to death like 6 weeks ago.'

'Maybe..' Tadashi sulked.

Gogo and Fred emerged from around the corner, no longer immersed in conversation.

'Heathcliffe will be here in like, 10 minutes.' Fred said, sitting down next to Wasabi. 'What did we miss?'

Tadashi hesitated, then sat back with his arms folded behind his head.

'Not much.'

Rena snorted and he smacked her, but he was grinning.

'Jesus why did we ever think we could actually be superheroes?' Tadashi spluttered into his hands.

'Fuck knows mate.' Sighed Gogo.

'What do you mean? We did perfectly!' Rena said sarcastically and they laughed again.

'To be fair, your fight with Callaghan on that hill was pretty badass.' Fred said encouragingly and she shrugged.

'I guess.'

'Well. At least we're all alive!' Honey Lemon exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

'Nah I'm gonna kill Hiro when we get home.' Rena said, cracking her knuckles. 'Little dick, leaving us here stranded.'

The laughter quickly died out.

'Well.' Gogo said, breaking the brief silence, 'bet you're looking forward to that conversation when we get back.'

Tadashi nodded grimly 'woohoo.'

Hiro jumped off Baymax as soon as they landed in the garage, pulling his damaged helmet off his head and throwing it on the desk. He plugged it in, tapping some rather complex code into his computer.

'You appear to be distressed.'

No shit. 'Baymax, I'm fine.'

'Your neurotransmitter levels are-' Hiro shut him up by ramming his helmet back on his fat head.

'There!' He snapped, 'is it working?'

'My sensors are operational.'

'Good. Now, let's get back to- hang on.' He jabbed at his access port, annoyed. 'Open your access port!'

'Are you going to remove my healthcare chip?'

'Yes! Now OPEN!' He punched furiously at Baymax, but his access port remained firmly closed.

'Tadashi programmed me to heal the sick and injured.'

'Yes but-'

'Is this really what Tadashi wants?'

'Baymax, open your access port!'

'I cannot do that Hiro. Tadashi-'

'I don't care Baymax!'

'But Tadashi-'

'I DON'T CARE!' He yelled, punching the robot in his frustration. All of his anger and sadness and frustration and confusion and just everything suddenly poured out of him and he found himself to be collapsed against the robot, feeling more exhausted than he had ever felt in his 14 years on the planet. He whimpered quietly and slid down slightly.

'Tadashi doesn't care.' He whispered, so softly that he was unsure if Baymax would even hear him. 'He doesn't care.'

'Yes he does.' Said Baymax automatically.

'No he doesn't!' Hiro yelled, lifting his head up to look at Baymax in the eyes (well... lenses). 'He ran into that damn fire even though I tried to get him to come back! He ran right in there because he doesn't care about me! About us! All he cares about is being the hero!' He paused, chest heaving and heart hammering so loudly in his chest he felt as though it was gonna burst or something stupid. 'In fact, I don't think anyone cares about me and they shouldn't because I'm a terrible, selfish person that just randomly decides to attempt murder and abandon his friends? What sort of dickhead does that?'

'Hiro. None of what you have just stated is true.'

'What do you know? You're a robot.'

'Your neurotransmitter levels are abnormal once more. The treatment was working for a while but-'

'SHUT UP!' He yelled, pressing his palms to his eyes so hard that he could see spots of colour dance across his vision. Baymax said nothing - but Tadashi's voice rang out clear in the tiny garage. He jumped, lifting his hands away from his eyes so he could locate the source of the noise. A video of his brother was playing on Baymax's chest.

'Okay. This is Tadashi Hamada, and this is the first test of my robotics project. Come on big guy. Ow. Wait! Stop! Stop! Stop-' He yelled as Baymax practically fell apart and went flying at him.

A second video appeared, time had passed and Tadashi looked slightly more stressed - but still happy. 'Tadashi Hamada again. This is the thirty-third test of my robotics project...'

Hiro stared at his brother on the screen, temporarily forgetting about his anger. Tadashi was stood there with a wide smile on his face for every video, even as the robot failed and the screen was cut to black. Hiro stared at his face, realising how... whole it seemed. There was no trace of scars on his face, or anywhere else. He had forgotten about just how different Tadashi looked after the fire - practically his entire body was covered with scars as a result of the fire. Tadashi called them medals for 'fighting like a hero against the wicked flames that fought against him.' Rena called them 'dumbass marks.' Hiro had to admit that he rather more agreed with the latter. He barely noticed them now, he'd gotten used to it.

'Tadashi Hamada again, and this is the fifty-second-'

Hiro exhaled sharply as his sister came into view.

'Hey! I need to borrow your- oh. Sorry! I didn't realise you were doing something!'

'No don't worry, in fact you can do the honours.'

'Sure!'

She approached closer to the camera and stood next to Tadashi. She stood on her tiptoes, held tilted to the side as she examined Baymax.

'Ow!'

'Hello I am Baymax-'

There was a shout as the screen went black, and Tadashi appeared close up to the camera with a flashlight. Rena was stood a little further back, watching on anxiously.

'Come on Tadashi, you've been working on this for so long. Can't you just scrap it and start with something else?'

'No. No way.' He peered closer to the camera before turning to face her. 'You - he - doesn't understand this yet. But he's gonna help a lot of people.'

She shrugged and walked out the room as he turned back to Baymax.

'You hear that buddy? I'm not giving up on you. Let's get back to work.'

The video faded back to black once more, before flickering to life once more. Tadashi stood in front of the camera, looking exhausted.

'This is the eighty-fourth test.' He sighed, almost in defeat. 'What do you say big guy?'

'Hello! I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion!'

His jaw dropped and eyes widened. All previous signs of distress were wiped from his face as he realised that Baymax was actually working.

'IT WORKS!' He yelled, jumping into the air. 'I did it! I can't believe you actually work!' He stopped his victorious dancing and straightened up.

'Okay. Big moment here, scan me.'

'Your neurotransmitter levels are elevated. This indicates that you are happy.'

'I am! I really am! Oh wait 'til everyone sees you. You're gonna help so many people buddy, so many. That's all. I am satisfied with my care.'

The scene shifted, and instead of being happy, the eldest Hamada looked nothing short of.. well.. depressed. He was sat in a chair, staring into space. His eyes were red and his mouth was set in a frown. The camera rose and was accompanied with a slight hissing sound as Baymax inflated.

'Hello. I am Baymax. Your personal healthcare companion. What seems to be the problem?'

'What? Oh - Baymax.' Tadashi shrugged and shifted his position slightly, as though he had only just realised where he was.

'Your neurotransmitter levels indicate that you are feeling a high amount of stress.'

'Oh.' He stated simply, turning away from the robot and typing something into his computer behind him.

'What is the issue, Tadashi?'

'Nothing that you can fix I'm afraid.' He gave Baymax a forced smile before folding his arms on the desk and resting his head.

'You can tell me Tadashi. I am programmed to help.'

Hiro shook his head, thoroughly confused. The video was silent for a long time as Tadashi sat with his head in his arms.

'Uhh, why are you showing me this? It just looks like he's fallen aslee-' He was cut off as Tadashi burst into speech, surprised.

'I don't know Baymax! I have a lot of deadlines due in and I told Fred I'd go with him to watch some dumb movie and now I'm gonna have to blow him off cause I need to study and I need to work because Aunt Cass has just let another waitress go and we're short handed and the 3D printer needs a new part but I'm saving to buy this new equipment I need and-' He paused and bit his lip. 'Hiro.'

'Hiro?'

'Yeah. My brother - I've told you about him. I'm worried about him! He graduated high school a while ago and he's bot fighting. I know one day he's gonna get hurt and there's absolutely nothing I can do to stop that. I thought he'd get better once he was away from that awful place! But apparently not: it's getting bad again. I know it is. But I can't do anything because he won't listen to me!' He sniffed and turned away from the camera.

'Tadashi. There is no need to cry. You will be able to find a solution to your problem.'

'Will I?' He cried, spinning his chair back around to face Baymax and throwing his hands up into the air in defeat. 'I love him more than words can say and I promised Mom and Dad that I'd protect him against anything and I've failed! I failed once, and I'm failing again! I just.. I just want him to be happy!'

The video stopped and Hiro blinked. His hand gently traced his brother's on screen and he felt an awful wave of guilt crash over him.

'I'm sorry. I- I had no idea I was putting you through all that.' He whispered to the screen. Wiping his eyes with his arm, he raised his head and addressed Baymax.

'Thank you. And I'm sorry, Baymax. I really, genuinely am.' Baymax blinked and Hiro sighed.

'Hiro.'

He flinched, surprised. He turned to face his brother. The real one, not a video of him displayed on a screen. He shifted uncomfortably, aware of everyone staring at him as they filed in behind Tadashi.

'Listen, I-'

But he didn't get to finish because he was pulled into a tight hug.

'I'm sorry.' He whimpered quietly into Tadashi's chest.

'So am I.' He said gently. 'I didn't mean what I said.'

'I know.'

They stayed like that for a few seconds before Rena had put her arms around both of them, forcing her way into their hug. A moment or two passed before Gogo joined in, then Honey Lemon, Fred, Wasabi and finally Baymax. Hiro breathed a sigh of relief, feeling warm and safe from the love of those around him. He wasn't sure how long it was before everyone detached themselves, but felt as though it didn't matter. Not in the slightest.

'Hey,' Gogo said, flicking him on the head. 'We're going to catch Callaghan.' She straightened up and nodded to the group. 'But this time, we'll do it right.'

'But hey, maybe next time don't leave your team abandoned on a spooky island?' Wasabi added, half joking and half serious.

'Oh god! I'm sorry you guys I-'

'Don't worry about it!' Fred exclaimed. 'Heathcliffe picked us up in the family chopper!'

'Yeah,' Tadashi grinned, 'there's no way I was flying everyone across that huge ass ocean.'

'Let's go catch Callaghan then!' Hiro announced excitedly, but Tadashi pushed him back gently, shaking his head.

'No. First, we're gonna recharge here. Not for long! But we need to come up with a solid plan and we can't do that on the scene. Besides,' he glanced over at Rena, 'some of us need to rest.'

'I do not!' She objected angrily, but Hiro noticed how she winced with the slight movement of stepping towards Tadashi.

'Fine.' He said.

'I do need my helmet fixing though.' She added, tossing it to him. 'Cheers bro.' She walked stiffly over to the couch and plopped down onto it, moaning slightly.

Rolling his eyes, he turned and started tapping away on his computer. 'Coming right up.' His voice was still thick from crying, and he didn't think that anyone had noticed. However, he was wrong.

A few minutes later, Tadashi announced that he was going to make tea whilst everyone recovered from the fight they had just epically lost.

'Hiro come with me, you can help carry the mugs.'

'Get someone else to 'Dashi. I'm busy doing this!'

'Oh come on, for once in your life get off your arse and just do something helpful.'

Something in the tone of his voice made Hiro sigh, before tapping a few more keys and follow him out of the room and up the stairs to their flat. It was only mid-afternoon, (they had gotten up really early to test the gear, and the fight had lasted a surprisingly short amount of time) so the flat was empty as Aunt Cass was busy with customers. Hiro sat on the counter as he watched Tadashi pull the mugs out of the cupboard and set them on the side, dumping tea bags into each one. When he'd finished, he turned to face Hiro, arms folded and eyes furrowed in concern.

'What's up?'

'The sky.' Hiro responded sarcastically, not really in the mood for some deep discussion where they talked about feelings or whatever. Yuck.

'Oh come on!' Tadashi exclaimed, exasperated. He ran his hands through his hair and Hiro sniggered.

'What?'

'You!' He imitated him, dragging a hand through his mop dramatically. 'You look exactly like Rena when you do that.'

Tadashi glared at him. 'Ok first of all, she looks like me because I am oldest and I came first. And second of all, stop avoiding the question.'

'I don't really know what you mean though.' Hiro replied innocently.

Tadashi held up a hand, ticking things off as he reeled off a list he had planned in his head. 'Ok first of all, you have your first panic attack in ages this morning. Then, you come back and then almost get killed, like three times due to your own recklessness and lack of regard for your own wellbeing. Thirdly, you go all apeshit and try to kill Callaghan. Then, I come home to find you crying and apologising to a robot.

Hiro squirmed uncomfortably. 'You're the one to talk about recklessness! If Rena was here now then-'

'I don't care Hiro, stop trying to distract me.'

'Oh quit it!' Hiro snapped, annoyed. 'What is it with you? Stop demanding answers that I don't even know myself!'

'What do you mean?'

'Well, first of all, I don't know why I freaked out over the fire. Oh wait, maybe I do. Ah yeah, maybe it had something to do with the fact that my brother almost died in a fire and me and my sister were left in the smoke, coughing our lungs out and screaming our heads off for you! Did you ever think about that?' Hiro snapped.

Tadashi didn't say anything, so he took this as a cue to continue. 'Ok, yeah. I lost my cool and tried to kill Callaghan. But can you really blame me? He almost tore our family apart - almost left me without a brother!' His voice cracked. 'Do you know how hard it was? Do you have any idea what it felt like to be by your bedside everyday whilst you were dying? To know that you consciously decided to run out on us without even a glance back? Callaghan doesn't give a shit, clearly. And I wouldn't think that you did either if it weren't for Baymax and those videos of you having a breakdown over fucking botfighting.' Tadashi stared at him incredulously and Hiro tore his eyes away from him.

'I'm sorry. I can't ever fix what happened but I can promise that it'll never happen again. You're right. I wasn't thinking - I was just desperate to save him and be hailed as a hero. Because I'm an idiot.'

He strode over to Hiro and hugged him for the millionth time in the last few weeks. Despite Hiro's claims that he really wasn't a hugger, he clung to him.

'Hear that?' Tadashi whispered, tilting Hiro's head gently to the side so his ear was resting in the perfect centre of his chest. 'I'm alive buddy. I'm not planning on going anywhere, not anytime soon. I'll always be here for you from now on, I'll be here until I'm old and grey and you've forgotten my name. Unfortunately for you, you're stuck with me now. And Rena as well. We need to stick together, I realise that now. As shit as I may be sometimes, I will be here until you're sick of me and wish me dead.'

Hiro sighed gently.

'I'm okay with that.'


	15. Chapter 15

An hour later, they were stood on top of one of the many tall buildings of San Fransokyo. Rena stared in fascinated horror as the microbots hauled monstrous pieces of metal and construction into the air. They were rebuilding the portal. The gang had briefed her on everything - Callaghan, the failed experiment, his daughter. Speaking of Callaghan, she could see him down below, inches away from Krei. The same Krei that she had spat at many weeks prior.

'Holy shit.' Gogo whispered in awe as they watched the portal flicker to life.

'Yeah.' Breathed Fred, mesmerised by the pretty colours swirling above them. 'This is so much cooler than the comics.'

'Okay guys, hate to break it to you but we kinda have some ass to save.' Said Tadashi bossily, swerving in front of them on his rockets. 'Remember what we discussed, try to distract him. There's no way he can keep that portal up there at the same time as trying to kill all of us at once.'

'Yeah Tadashi, and here's a tip for you.' Rena replies, striding forward and placing her hands on her hips. 'Don't get killed trying to be the hero!' She didn't see his face as she turned to address her friends, but she knew he'd be sulking. 'In fact, I'd prefer it if no one got killed.'

'Okay we get that, but we do need to hurry.' Wasabi added, eyeing the monstrous portal somewhat nervously.

'Good luck guys!' Honey Lemon called as she threw a couple of balls on the ground. They split open when they hit the floor and made a bouncy cushion for them to land on. She waved as she disappeared over the edge. Gogo followed her, saluting as she sped down the side of the building. Rena jumped onto Baymax alongside Hiro, Tadashi following close behind. She craned her neck as they sped off, sniggering at the sight of Wasabi clinging onto Fred before they jumped down, disappearing into the opposite direction to Honey Lemon and Gogo.

The plan was simple. The three Hamada's were to fly in at Callaghan and Krei and get the mask. The others were to vacate any pedestrians and circle the central stage so Callaghan couldn't escape. In their heads, it sounded like a good idea. However, Rena has realised once they had gotten there that maybe things weren't going to be so easy on the battlefield. Baymax landed on the stage and she jumped off, landing with a dull thud on the metal floor. She was feet away from Callaghan, but his back was turned. He was talking to Krei, and she could hear his deep, creepy hiss from where she was stood. Shivers were sent through her spine. Her eyes drifted anxiously over to Krei, who was trapped in an iron fist of microbots. His eyes were bulging and she could see beads of sweat break out on his forehead. Despite the sourness of their previous interactions, she couldn't help but feel a jolt of sympathy at his panic. Tadashi landed just behind them and Callaghan didn't even notice. Rena seized Tadashi's arm and whispered in his ear.

'Hide, you and me. Hiro can distract him and we can take him down.' Tadashi nodded and ducked to the right behind a dislodged sign behind them. She followed, crouching down behind a ridiculously huge potted plant on the side of the stage. She could see Callaghan's side profile from where she was knelt uncomfortably.

'Hiro!' Rena hissed into her microphone, for he was looking around in confusion as to where his siblings had suddenly disappeared to. 'Distract him! Talk to him and we'll take him down!'

Hiro stuck his thumb up in the air and dismounted the robot. He strolled casually over to Callaghan and tapped him on the shoulder. Callaghan whirled around to face him, beyond furious.

'Turn right!' Rena whispered desperately into her helmet once more, and Hiro quickly skidded so he was facing them. Callaghan turned, his back now facing Rena and Tadashi once more.

'You've made a mistake coming here.' Callaghan sneered, but Hiro was unfazed by his nastiness.

'Oh yeah?' Hiro drawled loudly, 'and why's that?'

'Okay 'Dashi. I say we go in opposite directions and circle him. I'll signal and we'll both charge and tackle him. Sound like a plan?' She whispered as she watched her brother and old professor talk. Tadashi nodded curtly, not tearing his eyes away from his younger brother. She gave him a gentle shove and they got to their feet quietly. Rena went to the left, Tadashi to the right. She didn't even dare breath as she silently tiptoed behind Callaghan, terrified that he would see her and send a wave of microbots at her. She stood to the right of him, slightly behind. She looked over at Tadashi, stood about the same distance away from Callaghan as she was. She held up a gloved hand, three fingers showing. Tadashi nodded and she put one down, only just deciding to pay attention to what the pair in front of her were saying.

'Abigail is gone!'

'Yes, but this won't change anything! Trust me!'

She put down another finger.

'Yeah, listen to the kid! I'll give you whatever you want Callaghan, just stop this!' Krei's voice was high-pitched and frantic. Rena could tell that he hadn't even noticed her and Tadashi in his blind panic.

'I WANT MY DAUGHTER BACK!' Callaghan roared.

She put down her final finger and charged at him. She seized him around the waist, tackling him to the ground. As she did this, she noticed Krei being thrust into a building cruelly by the microbots. Callaghan roared in anger at this sudden attack, fighting tooth and nail as he was brought to the ground by two teenagers. Rena clambered on top of him, pinning his arms behind his back as he struggled to push her off. Tadashi got to his feet, watching the scene unfolding in front of him.

'GET THE MASK!' Rena yelled at him angrily as she struggled to keep Callaghan pinned to the ground. But it was too late, he'd hesitated for a second too long. Out of nowhere, the microbots came and snatched him up, holding him in a vice-like grip midair. Rena swore loudly, not daring to move. Her knees were tucked tightly into Callaghan's side, her arms being used to hold his behind his back.

Hiro danced forwards apprehensively, but as he bent down to grab the mask he was knocked off his feet by a large swarm of microbots. Baymax quickly strode over to him to help, but was pushed aside by the microbots and buried underneath them. Rena snatched an arm away from Callagham, and reached for the mask, but he was expecting this. He pulled his arm out from behind his back and grabbed her wrist, pulling her off him and throwing her carelessly to the side. She landed in a heap on the floor, staring up at him in shock. Holy shit, he was strong.

'MEDDLING KIDS!' Callaghan thundered. Rena ducked as he sent microbots hurtling towards her. She stood up quickly, before skidding to the left as he tried to immobilise her. She flicked her wrist, and was sent hurtling through the air towards the top of the stage. She clung there momentarily, thinking that he had lost of sight of her. She thought wrong, microbots were crawling up the walls towards her. She heard a shout from below, and saw Honey Lemon speeding across the stage. She threw a pink ball onto the ground in front of her, and Rena dropped without even thinking about it. She landed on the sticky mess and Honey Lemon pulled her to her feet. She heard Hiro's cry of warning a fraction too late, a pillar of bots was sent towards her and she was knocked to her feet. She scrambled across the floor away from them, looking for Honey Lemon desperately. But her friend was nowhere to be seen, and she could only guess that she was inside the pink sphere that the bots were attacking, shattering holes in the protective surface. Desperately wracking her brains for some kind of plan, she dodged the continuous spikes of microbots attacking her.

'RENA!' Tadashi yelled, and she whirled around to look at him high up in the air. This turned out to be a mistake, however, for she could feel the microbots wrapping around her, lifting her up slightly as she struggled against the metal binds.

'FOR FUCKS SAKE TADASHI!' She shouted angrily, desperately trying to wriggle out of the bots that had tightly wrapped themselves around her entire body. But it was no use, in fact the more she struggled the tighter they seemed to become, making it more and more difficult to be able to breath. She reluctantly went limp, and they loosened their grip on her enough so that she could gulp in great mouthfuls of air. The only person left on the battlefield was Hiro - she could see from her high viewpoint how Callaghan had managed to immobilise the rest of her friends. She watched helplessly as Wasabi was being squished by two quickly moving walls of microbots: how Fred was being stretched in his costume.

Suddenly, Callaghan jerked his arm into the air and Rena watched in horror as he turned the portal on, the great machine beginning to suck up everything that Krei had been working on. She was safe in the grip of the microbots, but Hiro was quickly rising towards the sky. She cried out, fearing that she would loose him to the abyss. However, he managed to grab onto a wire and was hanging desperately onto it as the rest of his body floated upwards into the sky. Callaghan stood in the middle of this chaos victoriously.

'Right, now what?' Rena gasped into her helmet. The microbots had began to tighten their grip again as Callaghan turned to stare at her.

'If anyone has a new plan, I'm all ears!' Honey Lemon cried shrilly.

'Yeah!' Fred groaned, '...please!'

'Just hang on!' Hiro yelled desperately, 'I'm thinking!'

'Well hurry UP!' Rena panted, craning her neck to stare at him dangling in the air. Even from where she was, she could see him muttering to himself.

'Come on genius!' Tadashi said from next to her, also addressing Hiro. 'Shake things up a bit!'

'Okay, okay. You're all geniuses right?' Hiro exclaimed, 'just look for a new angle!'

Rena looked over at Tadashi, his previous advice sinking in. The eldest Hamada turned to her and shook his head incredulously. Rena focused on how to get herself out of this situation, but she could not think of a single solution in her panic. She saw Honey Lemon burst out of her shell using one of the microbot spikes that was trying to hurt her. Glancing over, Wasabi had dung himself into the ground below the stage and Gogo had sliced her spherical prison in half, bursting triumphantly out of it. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to drown out the sounds of the battle below her. Hang on, squeezing. Could it work? She focused all her energy on making herself as small as possible, tensing her muscles. She slid a couple of inches downwards and the microbots seemed to loosen. Clearly, Callaghan was distracted by her friends that had already escaped. She did it again, and the bots had loosened enough for her to be able to wriggle her arm out of them. She stuck it straight into the air, and plasma came shooting out of her gloves to stick on a nearby wall. She tensed slightly and felt herself hurtling towards the unsteady building, lungs gratefully expanding as she escaped her robotic prison. As soon as she hit the metal of the wall, she dropped. Landing unsteadily on her feet, she straightend up and surveyed the surroundings. Baymax was still buried under the pile of microbots, and she quickly decided that it would be wisest to get him out before doing anything else. She bolted towards him, arms windmilling slightly as various debris shot out from under her feet and up towards the sky. She was almost there, she had almost reached Baymax-

BOOM

Much like it had done mere hours before, his robotic fist exploded out of the rubble. She skidded to a halt and watched in fascination as he reconnected with his fist mid-air, heading straight towards her brother. He let go, elegantly flying through the air before Baymax caught him and they came plummeting back towards the ground. She punched the air triumphantly, before using her plasma to zoom over to where the team had quickly collected.

'Brilliant!' She breathed as she landed next to Fred.

'So what's the plan now?' Asked Gogo quickly. They didn't have much time.

'Forget the mask!' Hiro said, excited that he'd finally figured it out. 'Go for the bots!'

'OH!' Tadashi exclaimed, 'yes!'

Honey Lemon nodded from next to Wasabi. 'No ammo! I get it!'

They all looked at each other quickly, nodding in silent agreement before tearing off in different directions. Rena followed Wasabi and Tadashi, quickly formulating a plan about how best to be rid of the bots. Wasabi started slicing pillars of bots, whooping victoriously as he sent hundreds of bots flying up towards the portal. Rena saw Tadashi remove the blade in his belt before gliding upwards effortlessly, slicing away at the microbot towers like he did it everyday. She paused, thinking. She didn't have a blade, but she did have the debris around her. A sharp sign glinted in the corner of her eye and she snatched it up, taking inspiration from the actions of Fred earlier on. Tucking it safely under her arm, she stuck her arm out and jetted off towards one of the nearby microbot pillars. It swayed dangerously as she clung to it. Before she could even think twice, she had sliced through the pillar as though it were paper and was sent flying through the air to the next one. Again she sliced easily though the bots. And again. And again. She was flying through the air at 100 miles an hour, enjoying the wind on her face and the adrenaline surging through her body.

That is, until she hit a particularly unsteady tower and went crashing down to the ground.

She screamed as she fell towards the ground, only realising what had happened when it was too late. She fell with an almighty bang as the bots crashed to the floor and began to float towards the sky. Sitting up quickly, she spat out a mouthful of blood for the second time that day. Then, she felt a jolt behind her navel and she began to slowly rise upwards into the sky. She turned her head from side to side, desperately trying to catch something that she could hang onto. But there was nothing - they'd done an exceptional job at clearing out the bots. Not one pillar was in sight, and they were rather far away from any buildings that she could safely attach herself to. Panic arose in her throat as she realised this and a guttering scream escaped her lips. She was going into the portal, and there was no chance that she'd ever get back out.

'TADASHI!' She shrieked, arms windmilling as she rose to the heavens above. 'BAYMAX! HIRO! ANYONE!' Taking in short, sharp gasps of air she closed her eyes. Even if someone were to see her now, they'd be too late. She was so close to the device that she could feel the heat radiating off it. Any second now she would be sucked in and her life would be over. Any second now-

But it did not come. Her breath was completely knocked out of her as she was seized from the side and dragged forcibly away from the machine that was trying to kill her. She opened her eyes, choking slightly from being winded. They were streaming like mad but she could just about make out the red of Baymax's armour. Before she could even move, she was slung into the air and she landed next to Hiro on top of the huge robot.

'Are you hurt?' He asked her, glancing at her quickly before turning his attention back on flying Baymax.

Rena let out a shaky breath, lowering her head down onto Baymax's back so her brain could catch up for a second. She was aware of a hole where a tooth should've been but other than that she was surprisingly alright.

'No. I, um, thanks.' She breathed, lifting her head and analysing the surroundings. Bots were flying everywhere, some pinging off her helmet and Baymax's gear. Hiro didn't respond, he was concentrating on yelling various different commands to Baymax as they crashed into pillars of bots and sent them cascading into the air.

'What's the plan now?' She asked as they flew into a dive.

'Find Callaghan.' Hiro said and she nodded, scanning the scene below them for any sign of the masked villain. They were extremely high up, and she could just about make out tiny colourful dots that must have been the rest of the gang below them. They were searching for a solid minute and a half when-

'THERE!' She cried, pointing down below them at a distant figure suspended on the only remaining tower of microbots. He was so obvious, how did it take them that long to find him?

She didn't have long to debate this however because Baymax pulled into a dive so fast she felt as though she'd left her organs back in the spot they were just suspended. Baymax sped towards Callaghan, fist outstretched and Rena shrieked in alarm.

'Hiro NO! You better hadn't have removed his healthcare chip! I know you're angry but we can't killl him, you hear me? We are NOT-'

She stopped her panicked rambling mid sentence, for Baymax had stopped inches from Callaghan's face. Callaghan flinched but when he realised Baymax wasn't going to strike, he thrust his arm into the air as though he was going to send microbots after them. Rena smirked and fistbumped Hiro triumphantly.

'Our programming prevents us from harming another human being.' Hiro said smugly, 'but we'll take that!' On his words, Baymax whipped the mask off Callaghan's head and crushed it to dust.

Instantaneously, everything starting falling apart.

Callaghan yelled out as his tower crumbled beneath him and he was sent shooting upwards into the atmosphere. However, he didn't need to worry about that as Baymax caught him by the hem of his cloak and they flew back down towards the ground.

No, what he needed to worry about was the portal that was now crashing down to the ground.

Baymax landed and Rena scrambled off him quickly, relieved to be back on solid ground. However, this relief did not last long as one look up at the sky made her stomach turn. She spun on her heel, grabbing the hand of Tadashi as they ran away from the falling structure. Just in time as well, as soon as they'd dived out of the way it had landed exactly on the spot in which they were just stood.

'We need to get away!' Craig yelled over the noise, 'the portal is unstable! It's gonna tear itself apart!'

Rena didn't need telling twice, she ran and ducked behind a piece of wall that had inevitabley fallen. She squeezed herself in between Fred and Tadashi, holding her breath and hoping to God that none of them would be sucked into the portal.

'WHERE'S HIRO?' Tadashi shouted into her ear, and she swore loudly. She peered over the edge and gave a roar of frustration as she caught sight of her little brother stood dangerously close to the portal, watching Baymax. She vaulted over the concrete, careful not to give into the force that was trying to drag her towards certain death.

'Hiro!' She screeched, panicked. 'Come ON!'

Hiro shook his head, still staring at Baymax. Rena watched as the robot lifted a great hand to point towards the swirling mass of colours before them.

'I detect life. In there.'

Rena gasped, understanding instantly. 'Callaghan's daughter!' She exclaimed.

'She's still alive?!' Hiro breathed. Rena saw Callaghan look up hopefully out of the corner of her eye. Despite everything he had done, she still felt crushed on his behalf. By the time she had turned back around, Tadashi was right behind her. Hiro had clambered onto Baymax's back and Rena jumped forward. She grabbed his hand and looked up at him pleadingly.

'No!' She said hoarsely, tears pricking in her eyes. 'It's too dangerous!'

'Hiro, please.' Tadashi said from beside her, 'I won't let you.'

'Abigail Callaghan is still in there! Someone has to help!'

Rena shook her head in disbelief. Tadashi had winced at his word choice, and Rena knew he had been transported back to the fire as well.

'You can't!' Yelled Krei from the sidelines, 'the portal will tear itself apart! You'll never make it!'

'We will.' Hiro nodded confidently, before patting Baymax on the back. 'What do you say, big guy?'

Rena stifled a sob as Baymax replied 'flying makes me a better healthcare companion!'

'NO!' She screamed, but it was too late. They had jetted off, heading straight towards the portal. They entered the portal with a weird splash noise, leaving the two oldest Hamada's stood alone in the dust.


	16. FINAL CHAPTER (16)

Rena stood there, staring at the place where her brother had just slipped through her fingers into danger once more. For a second, she didn't move. She didn't think, she didn't speak. But then, a horrible combination of emotions bloomed across her chest, spreading throughout her entire body and making her hands tremble. It was a weird mixture of grief, disbelief, confusion, pure anger, annoyance and a weird sense of pride. It was safe to say that she hated it. Tadashi gently placed a hand on her shoulder and instead of letting him guide her away from the dangerous portal she slapped him away.

'Why is it,' she said, her low and bitter, 'that you two are so DETERMIND TO KILL YOURSELVES?' She shouted this last bit, she didn't mean to really but anger clouded her judgement. She turned away from Tadashi's wounded look and stormed off towards safety. He followed her reluctantly as she kicked various stones and pieces of metal out of the way.

'We were so close!' She yelled, gritting her teeth. 'So close to getting away from here unscathed! For FUCKS SAKE!'

Tadashi didn't say a word, didn't even react as she yelled and raged about the injustice of it all. She was oblivious to everyone staring at her as she made a scene. In her opinion, it was completely justified! Her younger brother had basically just sacrificed himself to save the daughter of a man he hated. He was probably going to die in there and she hadn't managed to save him. It was like Tadashi all over again.

Except Tadashi wasn't dead, he was standing there looking like he was gonna cry. She deflated slightly, all anger quickly dissipating. It was replaced by a mingled feeling of guilt, sadness, worry, grief. You name it, she was probably feeling it.

She collapsed on a nearby rock and pulled her helmet off. She slammed it down next to her and buried her face in her hands. A small sob escaped her lips and she pressed her palms to her eyes, spots of colour swirling across her vision like the machine metres away from her. She heard a clunk of metal hitting rock as Tadashi plonked himself down next to her. He rested his head on her shoulder and sighed wearily.

'So this is how you felt outside the SFIT hall that day, huh?' He mumbled quietly. Rena lifted her head and saw tears slowly fall down his cheeks.

'No.' She said, hesitating slightly. 'There was a lot more... uh.. smoke and pain. Oh yeah, and vomiting and crying and-' She trailed off, not seeing the need to continue.

'I'm so sorry.' He whispered, and she shook her head.

'Stop this.' She said, slightly annoyed. 'Now's not about that, alright? It's in the past. You're not dead and that's final. Let's forget about that.'

'Yeah but-'

'No buts.'

He nodded gently. 'Okay.' He paused slightly, before rising to his feet. He began pacing up and down rapidly. Rena remained where she was, watching him sadly.

'He'll be fine!' Tadashi said, more to himself than to her. 'He's with Baymax!'

Rena nodded, not bothering to mention how the cons definitely outweighed the pros in this situation.

'Yeah he's too stubborn to die.' She replied, smiling sadly as she remembered reciting these exact same words to Aunt Cass many weeks prior. Tadashi looked at her before grabbing her hands and pulling her to her feet. He hugged her tightly, and she hugged back.

'He can't die.' Tadashi whispered, sounding so small and heartbroken.

'He won't.' Rena reassured him gently, but she was becoming more uncertain herself as the minutes ticked by. 'He'll be okay, I know he will. He has to be, because I don't know what we'd do without him.'

'I love you.'

'I love you too. Dickhead.'

'Well that's a bit harsh, bonehead.'

'Yeah yeah I get it, you've got to stay PG clean for your brand or aesthetic or whatever. Just admit you're a pussy and you don't like swearing.'

Tadashi laughed gently, still hugging her. 'In your dreams.'

'Listen,' Callaghan said, approaching them warily. 'If it's any consolation...'

But he didn't get to finish. Before he had gotten another word out of his treacherous mouth Rena had pushed Tadashi away from her and stormed towards him, all the anger that had previously subsided filling her being once more. She seized a fistful of Callaghan's robes and looked right at him with her blazing eyes.

'You,' she hissed, her voice dangerously low, 'can shut up. You're a piece of shit, you know that? Tadashi almost DIED when he ran into that fire to save you and you show no remorse. WE TRUSTED YOU! I thought you were kind, understanding. I thought you were one of the greatest men alive. But you're nothing but a snivelling piece of shit.' With that, she dropped his robes and he fell backwards slightly.

'I lost my daughter!' He retorted angrily and she stared at him in disbelief.

'So? You put people's lives in danger. You almost killed my brother and countless other people in that pointless fire you set. If you had asked, we'd have helped you! You literally work at a school of geniuses! How did it not occur to you to ask for help?! We could've recovered the portal and gone looking for her! All of this could easily have been avoided!' She swept her hands across the air, motioning to the smouldering remains around them.

'I-... well.. I-' Callaghan stammered.

'Die.' She said loudly, spitting at him before stalking off in the opposite direction.

'We're almost there buddy!' Hiro yelled encouragingly as they approached the distant pod. Baymax said nothing as they floated towards it, and before he new it he was clambering on top of the metal, slightly nervous that he was gonna plummet to his death. He let out a shaky breath, looking over at the healthcare robot and feeling slightly more comforted. Slightly. He reached over and wiped the glass, peering through to the girl sleeping within. She was young, only about a year or two older than Tadashi. He watched her for a second before turning back to Baymax.

'Okay Baymax. Let's get her home.'

Baymax nodded and seized the pod. He activated his boosters and they sped off towards the way out of this weird, colourful universe they had found themselves in. Hiro admired the view as they explored the.. space? World? Galaxy? Alternate universe? He didn't know, but he drank in the beautiful colours and floating shapes and rocks, knowing that he would never see them again. Unfortunately, he was too busy doing this to notice the huge wreckage speeding through the air towards them. He heard the whistling of oncoming metal and yelled out. Oh god, he was gonna die here! He promised Rena he'd come back! And his SFIT project, Aunt Cass, Tadashi!

'BAYMAX!' He yelled in panic as it loomed closer, almost slipping off the pod before he realised that he couldn't run anywhere, he really was trapped. He braced himself for the impact just as Baymax pulled himself to the front.

He cried out as the wreckage hit, small rocks and pieces of metal were raining down on him but he wasn't crushed as he was expected. He whipped his head around, Baymax was quickly floating away from them. He scrambled to his feet, panicked.

'Baymax! Grab on!' He yelled, reaching out to grab his hand. He just about managed to grasp it, and pulled him back to the pod before he was pulled away from it himself. He quickly analysed the situation - half the robot's armour had been tore off in the impact.

'Ok. Shit.' He muttered under his breath, desperately wracking his brains to find a solution to their problem. Baymax confirmed that his rocket boosters were inoperable and he deflated. There only way out of this was broken, they were trapped. He sat back on his knees, chest heaving as the realisation sank in.

'There is still a way out of here.' Baymax said, and his heart soared. But this hope was quickly diminished as Baymax rested his fist against the pod. He knew what was happening a mere second before he said it.

'I can deactivate if you say that you are satisfied with your care.'

'No!' He gasped desperately, feeling as though he was choking all of a sudden. An iron fist was tightening around his chest and tears were welling in his eyes. 'You can't deactivate! Just hold on - I'll come up with something! I will!' Baymax shook his head and Hiro slumped down even further, mind whirring rapidly as he tried to grasp at an idea far away in his mind. 'Please! Baymax, I- I cannot loose you!' He wrapped his arms around the robot's next, hugging him tight. Half of him felt stupid - he was just a robot after all. But at the same time, he was more than that. He had saved them! He was family.

'Hiro. There is no time.'

He knew that. Deep down, he knew it was the only solution. He'd known it since they'd stepped into the portal, somehow. He wanted to stay, wanted to come up with a magical solution that would fix everything. He could do that. But Baymax was right. If he hesitated and the portal imploded, there would be no chance of them ever getting home. He couldn't do that to his small, broken family. Could not add another heartbreak to their shattered lives. And that is the only reason that he said-

'I am satisfied with my care.'

He said it so quietly that for a second he thought Baymax hadn't heard him. But after a small delay, he watched as the robot deactivated and they were sent whooshing towards the exit of this beautiful hell. As they were hurtling through space, only one coherent thought was ringing in Hiro's sad mind.

'SHIT! Tadashi's gonna be so mad!'

Rena was stood on her feet near the portal, chewing her nails as she watched the swirling colours. Then, she wasn't. She found herself lying down on the ground, coughing in the dust that was now in the air. She lifted her head to locate the source of the sudden explosion, but there was no explosion. Instead, a metal pod was sitting on the ground near her feet. Pulling herself upwards, she noticed how the gravitational pull of the portal trying to drag her inside had subsided. She ran over to Hiro, lying slumped over the metal. Her heart stopped as she approached him warily, noticing how still he was lying there. Then, he lifted his head and looked right at her.

All anger she had previously felt had dissipated - for good this time. She threw herself at him, letting out a guttural sob. To her surprise, he hugged back. Tadashi piled on top of her and all three of them stood in an awkward huddle, both crying and laughing. Then, Rena could feel Honey Lemon's hair on her shoulder and Fred's stupid monster costume digging in her side.

'We did it!' Fred yelled excitedly as they pulled apart, high-fiving both Gogo and Wasabi as he said this.

'Where's Baymax?' Tadashi asked quietly, and it was only then that Rena noticed the clear absence of one of their number. Hiro shook his head, tears in his eyes as he looked up at Tadashi.

'I'm sorry!' He said, 'there was this huge wreckage of... something and he-'

Tadashi shook his head. 'It's fine. It's fine! You're alive, that's what matters.'

'Hey!' Rena reassured him gently, 'it's alright! We can rebuild him... right?' She addressed Tadashi as she asked this last bit and he shrugged.

'We'll figure it out.' He said heavily, and Rena nodded. Then, she turned and hit Hiro on the arm.

'OW! The hell was that for?!' He yelped, rubbing his arm in annoyance.

'Well I'm glad to see you alive but we have got to keep up with tradition!'

Hiro stared at her, dumbfounded. Tadashi looked her in the eyes and they both burst out laughing despite everything that had just happened.

'Wha-?'

'Don't ask!' Tadashi answered, shaking his head as he grinned.

'Uhh, can we go now?' Asked Gogo, also showing her confusion at this weird turn of events.

'Yeah the police are coming!' Fred said, eyes shining with joy. 'We have to keep our identities a secret - that is literally superhero rule number 1!'

Rena rolled her eyes at him and jogged over to pick up the helmet that she had previously discarded. She rammed it on her head and turned back to her battered group of friends.

'Yeah. Let's go.' She said, grabbing the hands of each of her dumbass brothers.

They turned and walked away together, leaving Callaghan a crumpled mess next to Abigail's pod and Krei in the background yelling at someone on the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay that is all for this story! Check out my profile for the sequel! It's a lot longer and a lot more action packed! Additionally is a Big Hero 8 AU story. What would have happened if Tadashi died?  
> I hope you enjoyed! Kudos, comments, etc always appreciated!


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